


Each Misfire

by AkuChibi



Category: Original Work
Genre: 16 hour day/night cycles are a bitch, A little slash maybe, Acceptance, Aliens, Angst, Blood and Violence, Death, Elijah may or may not hate him, Enemies, Friendship, Going against orders, Helios and Calypso forever, Humor, Immortality, M/M, Male Friendship, Okay definitely some, Rating May Change, Romance, Ship: Saurian, Ship: Titan's Claw, Shuler is a cat, Space Ships, Thanks, The good of the Few versus the Good of the Many, There are too many captains on this planet, Twin daggers, Unhealthy Relationships, War, Warnings May Change, doing this a chapter at a time, enemies everywhere, first attempt at original sci-fi, just try it, kind of, sorry if it's terrible, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-13 15:30:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9130534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkuChibi/pseuds/AkuChibi
Summary: The universe ended not with a bang, but with a whisper. Captain Kane commands the Saurian, a bounty hunting vessel not built for direct combat. On a mostly routine mission to apprehend an intergalactic convict, the crew of the Saurian gets pulled into the previously unnoticed chaos, as another captain has risen... and he has domination on his mind.My first real attempt at sci-fi. (Original sci-fi, anyway).





	1. Athena's Flight

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this story for a while, and it's been posted on my fictionpress account for a while now. I'm currently 12 chapters in, but the number is ever growing. This story is based off a dream I had, though it's kind of veered off course a little bit. 
> 
> If you know anything about me or my work, you know that I tend to lean toward slash as I don't feel very comfortable writing female characters, but I do have female characters in this story, more so than the others. There is a slash pairing, but so far it's just more background-ish characters and not the main focus ones (at least not yet?). We'll see how it goes. I haven't decided of all the pairings yet or even if there are really going to be pairings... but again, we'll see what happens.
> 
> In my original author's note/warning on my fictionpress account, it mentioned possible future torture (which is most likely still going to happen at some point) and possible slash, and blood and violence. I haven't decided on how to rate this, really, yet; so it's unrated but that could change depending on if I do add more explicit scenes, but again... I haven't decided. 
> 
> Again though, this is loosely based off a dream I had about a year ago. Take it with a grain of salt. 
> 
> Last but not least, I do hope you enjoy this story. I'm having fun writing it, even if my inspiration comes and goes. Comments are, as always, life - they truly do keep me updating and not simply abandoning my works (even though sometimes... I do still fizzle out... but still... comments help). 
> 
> Oh, and I also recently (as of chapter 12) started giving the chapters names, so I just kind of tacked on the names afterward... just an fyi as to why some of the formatting might be a little different in later chapters. 
> 
> Enjoy!

**[EACH MISFIRE]**

__

_ Chapter One _

 

The hum of the _Saurian’s_ primary thrusters was always soothing, a lullaby attuned to Kane’s heart. He sat in the captain’s chair in the control room, eyes closed, head tilted back as he simply just _listened_. He could hear the fingers of his pilot tapping away at keys with little blips, and felt the ship jerk and slow in rhythm with the taps. He knew they would be approaching their target location soon; his heavy eyelids reminded him that he had little sleep on the journey here.

The crew came first, though. The crew would always come first, and if that meant he had to stay up and keep watch, and help run the ship, while they slept… then so be it.

“Six hours until we reach our desired location, Captain,” the pilot said in her usual smooth, melodic voice.

Kane opened his eyes, acknowledging his pilot with a small nod as he swiveled in his chair to face her. Athena sat looking back at him, her cool blue eyes as focused as always. She lifted a delicate, dark brow, and he smiled at her.

“Thank you, Athena. How is the ship doing?”

“She’s doing well,” Athena replied with the slightest upward twitch of her lips. It was hard to get her to truly smile, but she did seem to have a soft spot for the ship, just as he did. For the past six months, the ship had been Athena’s home as much as it had been his home prior to that.

Athena might have been a new member of the crew, but she was definitely welcome here, and she fit right in with the little family.

“Are we expecting trouble?” Athena asked a moment later, swiveling around to eye the screens across the deck before her. In front of her, the window showed a planet in the distance; noticeable in the otherwise dark blur of space, but still too far away to completely make out other than the round shape appearing from the black.

“Not until we land,” Kane replied smoothly.

The _Saurian_ was equipped with the newest, lightest guns, and this ship was a lighter model, allowing it to maneuver more easily and fly a little faster than the others. It wasn’t a fighting vessel by any means, but it could hold its own if it had a pilot who knew how to use her, and Athena seemed to be that very pilot. She hadn’t been here very long, but already she’d made her mark.

Once on the ground, though, that left them open to attack.

Of course, Kane had faith in his crew.

“Who shall I send down with you?”

Kane thought a moment. “I’ll take Shuler, Kikira and Elijah with me.”

The sound Athena made was half amused, half shocked. “Elijah and Shuler don’t exactly get along.”

“I know, but they need to get over their differences at some point, don’t you agree?”

Plus, they did make a good team. If only they could see it.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you and Celeste here to watch the ship.”

Athena sighed, swiveling to face him. In the distance, the planet loomed, still hours away. “I like a good fight, too, you know.”

He smirked. “I know you do.”

“And me and Shuler make a good team.”

They most certainly did. Of course, Shuler and Athena knew each other prior to joining the crew of the _Saurian_. It only made sense that they knew each other better than the rest of the crew. Nevertheless, he had seen the two of them in combat; while Athena couldn’t match Shuler in raw agility and strength, she was good at reading people and the battle between them flowed smoothly.

“I just need you and Celeste here, on the ship, in case we need backup,” Kane told his pilot. It wasn’t that he didn’t think Athena could handle herself out there, because he knew she most certainly could, but she was a great pilot and if they needed a quick escape… she was the best person for the job.

“Fine, I’ll stay here with Blondie,” Athena said, sighing.

“She hates when you call her that.”

Athena merely smirked.

Kane shook his head before pushing to his feet. “Six hours, you said?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Very well. I will return to my quarters and attempt to get some sleep until then. Wake me when we’re fifteen minutes out, please, and have Shuler, Kikira and Elijah meet me in the shuttle bay. We’ll take a small one in and you can land elsewhere, away from the heat.”

“Very well, Captain.”

Kane nodded his farewell even though Athena’s back was to him again at this point, and he walked out of the control room, toward the little staircase leading up, toward the captain’s quarters. The captain’s quarters were located at the top of the ship, beneath one of the thickest points of the ship’s sturdy metal frame.

The room itself wasn’t very large, but did hold a finely crafted wooden desk, made from some rare tree on a distant planet whose name Kane couldn’t remember. It was a gift when he was promoted to Captain. The bed in the room wasn’t anything too fancy, though it was king-sized and softer than the rest of the beds the crew had to use.

Kane crossed the room in a quick stride, and sat heavily on the bed. The mattress sagged beneath his weight and he yawned tiredly, kicking off his shoes but leaving them nearby, in case he was needed. They weren’t due to arrive for six hours, but a captain could never be too careful; one had to be prepared for anything, especially when they were to be entering hostile territory.

In all truth, Kane realized he probably shouldn’t go on this mission; he was the captain, and the captain was supposed to stay aboard the ship. Yet, he couldn’t put his crew in danger that he himself would not enter. Besides, he did actually like the thrill of the fight. It gave him a break from filling out paperwork. No one told him that, as captain, he would have mountains of paperwork to fill out every single mission.

Perhaps, if he had been informed, he might have declined.

But if he hadn’t taken the position, where would his crew be now?

Paperwork was a small price to pay.

A small, tedious price.

Thankfully, paperwork wasn’t done on actual _paper_ anymore. It was all electronic. There was still a lot of signing involved, though, with the electronic pens that came with the personal pads. He still experienced cramps in his hand.

He took off his overcoat and tossed it aside before he climbed further up the bed and finally lay down. He didn’t bother getting under the covers; the room was always the perfect temperature. Instead, he lay there for a single minute, before he let his heavy eyelids fall shut.

Sleep claimed him instantly.

xXx

“Come _on_ , really?” Shuler groaned in his natural, treble voice, spinning away from the back of Athena’s chair, no doubt grabbing at his ears in frustration. “Seriously, ‘thena? Why do I have to go with _Elijah_?”

Athena hid a smirk, keeping her gaze focused outside the ship, at the planet ahead of them. They were still 2.2 hours away from it. By now, the planet’s two moons were starting to become visible. One was but a speck in the distance, barely there at all; the other was more noticeable, as it was larger than its counterpart.

“Sorry, Shu, that’s what the captain told me,” she said, as she had done many times already.

Shuler’s growl of frustration was inhuman; it always sent a small shiver down her spine. She was raised among humans, as were most of the crew. While space travel was evident, and there were different worlds with different species, humans had multiplied across the universe at such a rate they almost immediately overtook all other races. The others were still around, of course, but humans tended to keep to themselves, and travel and work with only other humans.

Shuler was not human.

Once upon a time, this bothered Athena.

Now, it was just a fact of life. Her best friend wasn’t human. Oh well. Life goes on.

“This is ridiculous,” Shuler protested. “He hates me.”

“He doesn’t _hate_ you,” Athena said, rolling her eyes as she checked the readouts scrolling down the screens in front of her. “He just… finds you annoying.”

“He _hates_ me,” Shuler said again. “And I did absolutely nothing to him!”

“He’s just wary; a lot of humans are, at first. He’ll get used to you.”

“It’s been _six months_ , Athena. You’d think he’d be used to me by now.”

“Sometimes it takes longer.”

“Why can’t _you_ go with us instead?”

Shuler could often sound like a child; he had this petulant quality to his voice whenever he whined about something, and he whined often.

“Some things just take time, Shuler. He’ll come around eventually.”

 _And if he doesn’t,_ she silently added, _I’ll take care of him myself._

Being wary of Shuler because he wasn’t human was one thing; but there was a fine line between being wary and being outright cruel. At first, everyone on the ship had been wary of Shuler; now, they were used to him. Everyone except Elijah Thomas.

“If I don’t come back, he got me killed,” Shuler mumbled like a dejected child. “So, you know. Avenge me, please.”

She snorted. “Don’t be so dramatic, kitty cat.”

She spun in her chair to face him, finally, and noticed his scowl first, his canines just barely visible as his mouth opened partially. He didn’t exactly have a human face; he wasn’t human, and therefore he did not. Yet, he was _humanoid_ in a way. Though, as he explained it, ‘humanoid’ was a term coined by humans, when in reality, evolution decided that ‘humanoid’ was the best route to take, with opposable thumbs, legs for running, arms for fighting or using tools… and thus he had a body like a human, almost. ‘Humanoid’, after all.

He stood on extended legs; like an animal’s back legs if they stood on two legs. He wore boot-like shoes, good for running and stepping easily on the ground, great for sneaking. She once asked if wearing shoes – and clothes – bothered him, and he replied that he was not a Neanderthal, and shoes had their uses. He had a long, thin, smooth tail which swished out behind him in irritation. Across his furry chest rested his equally furry dark arms; his sharp nails gleamed in the light of the room, even though they were mostly retracted right now. They were noticeable against the deep red-brown color of his fur.

Atop Shuler’s head, an ear twitched. “Stop staring at me; you know that gives me the creeps.”

Athena smirked. “Admit it; you like it when I stare at you.”

Copper green eyes rolled before narrowing at her. “Did Kane really tell you to have me _and_ Elijah go with him?”

“Sorry, Shu. That’s what he said.”

Shuler sighed, tail flicking quickly as his ears twitched back to rest nearly flat against his head. “Avenge me, Athy.”

Athena laughed quietly; it was a sound she did not make often, but she found Shuler made it easier. “I’ll avenge you, Kitten.”

His ears twitched back further as his eyes narrowed. He did not appreciate being called ‘kitten’.

_INCOMING – ALERT – INCOMING – ALERT_

The mechanical voice spoke succinctly, just as the alarms began wailing in the control room. Athena flinched and spun around to face the screens laid out before her, rapidly moving her fingers across invisible keys. Her eyes darted across the flickering red outlines appearing on her map screens.

“We’re being attacked,” she breathed, brows furrowing harshly. “I don’t understand – we’re cloaked. And I don’t even see them…” She looked out the window in front of her, reinforced with diamond glass, but saw nothing of the attackers her screens mentioned.

“Captain, better get down here!” came Shuler’s hissing voice, stationed behind Athena and to the left, at the comm station.

She didn’t hear the captain’s response.

“They’re locking weapons onto us!” she said roughly.

Adrenaline did crazy things to one’s body, especially in space. She did have combat training, and thus her fight response was activating, yet she was in a ship in the middle of space, still hours away from the planet Erudad, and her combat skills would not help her here. It was frightening to realize she could simply die in this metal ship, and because of space, no one would even hear her scream.

Frightening, but also _exhilarating_.

She smacked the palm of her hand down on the small orange button on the right side of the control panel; the screen flashed orange and behind her, she heard Shuler already making the announcement.

“Shields raised; everyone brace for impact!”

The first shot to hit them came from their left, landing a glancing blow across the left thruster. Thankfully, the shields held and they only received a bit of cosmetic damage, according to the readings flashing across her ship screen, revealing the location of the attack as well as the shield percentage covering that area. It went from a solid 99% down to 65%.

A glancing blow, but if they took another hit there, especially a direct one…

If they lost their thrusters, they couldn’t move quickly. They would be unable to escape. Soon after, death would occur.

“Evasive maneuvers!” Athena snapped.

Shuler repeated her words through the intercom system, alerting the crew.

The door at the back of the room burst open, then.

“What’s happening,” Captain Kane demanded.

“We’re not sure, sir,” Shuler replied. “You might want to sit down.”

Cats were very agile, and always landed on their feet; their balance was impeccable. A human’s balance, however… especially in a ship performing evasive maneuvers…

The captain didn’t argue with Shuler, and she listened he sat in his command chair and fastened his safety harness. A second later, fingers pricked at Athena’s clothing as Shuler fastened her own harness, which she neglected to reach for, her fingers swiping fervently across the screens.

The next attack was incoming; the long red dot across her screen read the trajectory, as well as the point of impact.

The left thruster again; a more direct shot, too.

She flicked the right side of the screen, pressing her fingers down hard and sliding them across, and the ship veered sharply to the side. The shot missed them, but it was close; there was no noise in space, but she still felt the vibrations of the plasma shot narrowly avoiding the metal frame, scraping the very edge of their shield.

Shields on the left thruster were down to 54%.

“I don’t understand… where are they?” she breathed, mostly to herself.

The _Saurian_ had up-to-date technology, as well as advanced detection and cloaking capabilities; she should have been able to see the enemies’ location by now, even if they were cloaked. And due to their own cloaking abilities, the enemies shouldn’t have been able to see them in the first place.

Frustration was not a new feeling in Athena’s repertoire, but it was one of her least favorites. She prided herself on excellence; she didn’t make mistakes. Everything was checked and rechecked. It was perfect. There was no room for error.

While it was true being on a ship like this, as a pilot, was new for her, she was no stranger to taking random jobs, nor was she a stranger to piloting a ship. She’d flown solo for many years; she knew how to pilot a ship, how to monitor the screens and get the hunk of metal to truly _fly_ , but that did not mean her job description was ‘pilot’.

Until very recently, anyway.

Now she was just a pilot. That was her role; it was what she wanted.

And as a pilot, she did not make mistakes, especially not rookie ones like being unable to detect enemy ships incoming.

Yet, the fact that was exactly what happened… it truly frustrated her.

“Kikira, Elijah, and Dante to weapons one, two, and three immediately,” Captain Kane ordered calmly. His smooth, easy tone left the tension bleeding out of Athena’s shoulders; she inhaled deeply, closed her eyes for just a moment, and took a fresh look at her screens.

“They’re firing at us again, sir,” she relayed quietly. “Left side, shot initializing from about 200 meters.”

“Thank you, Athena,” Kane said.

She said nothing about the exact location; she said nothing about how many ‘degrees’ away they were. And yet, that was exactly what Kane told his gunners – he told them exactly where to aim their shots, and then gave them the order to fire.

And fire they did.

On her screens, the shots appeared to simply be heading into empty space; a waste of plasma, truly. And yet, suddenly the shots evaporated, hitting enemy shields. There was a flicker in the air, the faintest trace on her screen, and Kane gave the order for them to fire again, and again.

The _Saurian_ didn’t have the most lethal weapons; it was a fast ship, made for quick missions and maneuvers rather than outright combat. The shields were minimal at best, good against glancing blows as they fled the scene, but under a direct assault, they would fail.

Kane wasn’t taking any chances; he was ordering his crew to annihilate the enemy.

It was either them or the enemy.

It had been a while since Athena had actively taken the life of another; she almost forgot what it felt like. The thrill returned to her, an old friend with a warm hug, and she grinned as she pressed her fingers across the screens, easily maneuvering their ship for a better, more accurate shot. Now that they knew where the enemy was, it would be easier to land a direct hit, even if they moved. She was ready for any sign of change now; she would not fail again.

Their shots hit again, and again. Their shields dispersed, and they began to move. Perhaps that was a downside to their protective systems; they could cloak themselves better than any other, but at the cost of movement. The enemy ships were suddenly visible. There were three of them, all of them about the size of the _Saurian_.

Now that they were visible, the ships moved quickly, knowing their surprise attack was finished. They fired off rapid shots; what the shots lacked in raw strength they made up for with their swift, hammering nature. The left flank was hit now, and the ship was sent reeling as Athena struggled to regain control.

Another shot came from the right; it slammed into them, and left them tilting on their axis. A direct hit left the right thruster’s shields at 15%.

“They’re distracting us,” Shuler growled with an inhuman hiss to his words. “Look behind us!”

All of Athena’s attention had been focused ahead of them, on the three ships outmaneuvering them at the moment. However, at Shuler’s words, she slammed her palm down on the display and it brought up footage from behind the ship, and sure enough, another ship was getting into position, this one larger than the other three. It had been hidden like the others, but upon moving, it lost its invisibility.

The three smaller ships were only a distraction.

“Guns two and three, focus on the smaller ships,” Kane said through the intercom. “One, you focus your attention on that bastard behind us.”

“Yes, sir!” Gunner one, Elijah, said hastily.

“They’re lining up multiple shots, Captain,” Athena called, fingers tapping quickly against the screens, attempting to line up the trajectories as fast as she could. “They’re going to bring down both of our thrusters. I can’t dodge them all!”

“Evasive maneuvers!” Kane snapped.

“You got this, Athena.” Shuler’s voice was smooth and quiet right behind her; she felt the weight of his hands holding tight to the back of her chair, his only source of grounding. She could only imagine how much he’d already been thrown around, with all the maneuvers and attacks. Now, he was speaking only to her, his voice so quiet she doubted the captain could even hear him. “Okay? I have faith in you. Get us out of this.”

Athena drew in a slow, shaky breath. This was not in her initial job description. But now, if she didn’t do something, they were all going to die.

Their screams wouldn’t make a sound.

Neither would the explosions caused by their damaged thrusters.

“You can do this, Athy. So do it.”

She drew in another quick breath, then released it.

Then she pressed her fingers delicately onto the panel in front of her, and with a swipe the ship veered left, then up sharply. She and the captain were strapped in; she felt it the moment Shuler was dislodged from his tentative hold on her chair as the ship rolled on its axis before diving back downward, narrowly avoiding two of the three shots. The third caught the back half of the ship at an awkward angle; not a direct hit, but the ship still took some minor damage.

_Sorry, Shu, I’ll make it up to you later. First, let’s make it out of this alive._

More shots were being locked onto the _Saurian_. She hoped the gunners were working on taking down the enemy ships, because they couldn’t keep this up for very long. This many sharp maneuvers at once, for an extended period of time, was dangerous for the ship; it could cause the core to overheat. Thankfully, Celeste knew what she was doing when it came to the engine room.

Before one of the three vessels could lock onto the _Saurian_ for another burst of fire, it suddenly exploded in front of her, one of the gunners’ shots landing a direct hit on an already damaged area. Athena stared at the bits of debris floating in space for merely a second, before she turned the _Saurian_ sharply to avoid impact. There was a thud behind her of a balling flailing around, but she couldn’t think about that right now.

Two smaller vessels still flew around them, attempting to target them. As long as she kept moving, kept maneuvering, it would be harder for them to lock a trace onto the ship and target them.

Athena checked the rear ship again; flashes of red showed points of impact on the larger ship from Elijah’s shots. At least he was doing his job and harming the ship, keeping it at bay. She didn’t want to know what kind of harm a larger ship would do to them, when they were already damaged.

There was a shout through the comm system as Dante managed a direct hit on another one of the smaller ships; there was a small explosion in the hull as it flew in front of the _Saurian_ , spinning on its axis, unable to right itself or control its direction. As it flew out of sight, Athena checked the readings to make sure it wouldn’t be back.

It was out of the fight.

One smaller ship, and that larger one behind them.

Maybe they’d make it out of this alive after all.

Alive, but wounded.

They would be limping away to make repairs on the planet still roughly 1.5 hours away. And there, they’d also have to worry about apprehending their target.

Later, Athena told herself. She could worry about that later. Right now she had to fly.

The smaller ship fired at them again.

Athena made a sharp turn, diving downward before twisting back up, narrowly avoiding the attack. A red light started flashing on the ship map of her screen, and she cursed under her breath.

“Ship power at 53% and dropping, Captain,” she said tersely.

“Keep us going, Athena,” Kane replied easily.

Athena grit her teeth, nearly catching her tongue between them. The sharp pain the muscle felt was short-lived, as she pushed it from her mind to focus on her task at hand. According to her readings, the ship trailing behind them was targeting them now.

The smaller ship was also targeting them, from off to their right.

She swallowed. “Brace for impact; performing evasive maneuvers!”

The ship veered to the right, toward the smaller enemy ship. Typically, protocol mandated that one steer _away_ from the danger when performing evasive maneuvers, but Athena wasn’t a simple pilot with only a pilot’s training. Her experience, her knowledge, ran deeper than that. And she knew that was exactly what the enemy ships were expecting; for her to veer left and attempt to escape. By steering toward the enemy ship, she could catch them off-guard and hopefully give her gunners a more direct shot so they could eliminate the threat.

The ship seemed caught off-guard; though they were locked onto target, they didn’t fire immediately, even with the better vantage point. However, the _Saurian’s_ gunners did not hesitate. The smaller enemy ship disappeared in a barrage of plasma shots.

Explosions in space were nothing truly fancy, as they didn’t even make a sound; however, there was something fascinating about them. Athena never worked with explosions; it was not in her job description now, nor previously. Nevertheless, she was familiar with explosions on a planet with gravity and an atmosphere; she knew how they sounded, how the ground shook and trembled, how the blast wave went through the air.

Something similar seemed to be happening here; there was an expansion of smoke but no fire, as there was not oxygen in space. The fire was extinguished as soon as it hit the empty void. All that remained was brief smoke as the fire fizzled, and then finally, just the debris left floating.

Athena brought the ship up over the debris as all of the _Saurian’s_ gunners focused their attention on the larger ship behind them, which obviously could not maneuver as smoothly as the _Saurian_ , nor even the other, smaller ships.

The remaining enemy ship veered off-course suddenly.

Flying _away_ from them.

Retreating.

 _Let your enemies live, and you will regret it later,_ she thought grimly, but it was not her call to make.

“Captain, do we shoot? They’re retreating,” Dante said through the comm system.

“Negative, Dante; the ship is already limping. We must make repairs before picking another fight,” Kane said. “Stay where you are, though. I fear this might not be over just yet.”

Athena watched the enemy ship disappear on her screens, and ground her teeth together. She didn’t realize how tense she was until a hand landed on her shoulder, startling her. She flinched and spun, already swinging at her attacker. Her fist was easily caught, and her gaze lifted to focus on copper green eyes.

“Easy, Athena,” Shuler said, smiling around a busted lip. “It’s just me.”

“Shuler,” she breathed. “You know not to sneak up on me.”

“I don’t sneak,” Shuler said.

“Liar. Are you okay? I’m sorry…”

He had a busted lip, with dark blood leaking from it. He wiped it from his chin and smiled at her. “I’m fine, Athy. You did a great job.”

She smiled briefly at the praise before she heard movement behind Shuler.

“Yes, Athena, Shuler is correct; you did an amazing job today,” Captain Kane said, appearing behind Shuler’s left shoulder. He appeared to tower over the cat humanoid, but then that was rather easy to do considering Shuler was only 5’5”. She herself often teased him for his height.

“Thank you, sir,” Athena said quietly.

“Take us to Erudad,” Kane said, lips pursing into a thin white line. “Find a suitable hiding place in the trees, if you could, away from civilization. We will need to make repairs and give the core time to cool.”

“Yes, Captain.”

The captain’s gaze shifted. “Shuler, with me.”

Shuler nodded, tossing Athena another quick smile, before he followed the captain toward the second staircase in the back of the room, which led downward instead of up toward the captain’s quarters. Athena watched them leave the room, then returned her focus to the screens, keeping watch for any hint the enemy might be returning for another surprise attack.

She wouldn’t fail again.

 


	2. Scouting Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuler and Elijah don't get along on the best of days; a night on a foreign planet certainly doesn't help matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just recently (yesterday) finished chapter 18 of this story. There is slash, but not the slash you're thinking. I haven't decided the relationships for the 'good' people yet. We'll see how it goes.

_ Chapter Two _

 

“I expect you both back here at 2200 hours, do I make myself clear?”

Captain Kane’s voice was firm and solid; there would be no arguing with him.

Shuler nodded even as he spared the person standing next to him a brief glance. They weren’t looking at him, but were frowning at the captain, clearly wanting to argue, but nevertheless biting their tongue. A wise move, considering.

“I understand your distaste with working together, but you two are the best scouts we have, and I need everyone else here to protect the ship while she heals,” Kane said, dark brown eyes carefully watching the two of them. Usually there was a softness to his gaze, as, despite the fact he was the captain, he liked to be friendly. Respect was earned, not just granted, and thus he tried hard to respect everyone in return, and not be too firm without reason.

But now there was ample reason.

Shuler understood the situation; that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Understood,” he said quietly.

Next to him, Elijah Thomas stiffened, but then rumbled, “Affirmative, sir.”

Kane’s features softened into a faint smile. “I know I can count on the two of you. Don’t let me down. Keep in radio contact; Kikira will be monitoring you both. Understood?”

They both nodded.

“Good. Dismissed.”

At the dismissal, the captain walked away to check on Celeste, who stood outside the ship with them, but off to the side, waiting for the captain to finish. She had an update on the core, and what needed to be fixed on the ship.

Shuler took in a slow breath, left alone with his nemesis.

The two shared a brief look. Elijah’s lips curled upward into a sneer.

“After you, cat.”

Shuler fought the urge to roll his eyes. Honestly, ‘cat’ was fairly tame compared to Elijah’s usual vocabulary toward him. He stepped away from the safety of the ship, and led the way into the thick woods around them. They managed to find a clearing large enough for their ship to land, but it had not been easy, and left them near a river. Where there was water, there could potentially be danger – either due to the local wildlife, or the inhabitants.

They tried to steer away from civilization, but even so, not everyone appreciated being in the city. They could still have company out here.

The twin daggers resting across his back reassured him, in a way. He wasn’t human, and usually relied on his claws and fangs to fight; there was a certain pleasure in doing so. However, if he did have to have a weapon – and Kane wouldn’t let him leave the ship without at least some light armor and some type of physical weapon – he did enjoy his daggers.

Calypso and Helios, he named them. Calypso was dark, curved and jagged; ripping the blade free would do just as much damage as pushing it inside the target. Helios was a lighter steel, easy to clean, and straight-edged and sharp. A clean entry and exit.

Together, they completed each other.

Yes, he liked his daggers.

Especially when in the presence of Elijah Thomas.

Nearly seven months ago, Shuler and Athena joined the _Saurian_ and her crew. Captain Kane welcomed them, though he was a bit wary. Of course, he’d just seen them in action; he had a right to be wary, since they turned to join him covered in blood that was not their own. He warmed to them quickly enough, especially when Athena offered to be his new pilot; what happened to the old one, they never asked.

He eventually warmed to Shuler, as well, often pulling him aside for brief conversations pertaining to anything and everything; the last time they spoke privately, it was about the merits of blades over guns, and then switched unceremoniously into a conversation about if Shuler liked to read in his free time. And, yes, he did like to read, though he had to be careful. Though his nails were retracted, they still protruded more than a human’s, and it made it too easy to scratch the pads or anything he held in his hands.

The crew warmed to them, eventually; except Elijah Thomas.

Elijah seemed fine around Athena; it was just Shuler with which he had a problem, it seemed.

Shuler expected the animosity at first, but after months of traveling with the crew…

It began to grate on his nerves, more than usual.

_I am not the enemy._

If Elijah disliked him merely because of his appearance, because of his genetics, that was just absurd. It wasn’t like Shuler had any say over where he was born, or to what race. Or maybe that had nothing to do with it; maybe he had some other problem with Shuler.

Curiosity was not an easy thing to fight, but Shuler managed nevertheless. He bit his tongue and kept silent as they trekked quickly but quietly through the trees. He could barely hear Elijah moving behind him, which was indeed a feat for a human; as a ‘cat’, Shuler had heightened senses. Athena, even when trying her hardest to be quiet, was usually so loud Shuler would shoot her glances and growl under his breath, or sneak up on her just to show her how it was to be done properly.

Elijah was quiet all on his own.

They made a good stealth team, Shuler decided. He knew the captain was right in that regard. That didn’t mean he had to enjoy the man’s presence, though.

They had three hours to secure the perimeter; after that, they were to report back to the _Saurian_ , and were to remain in radio contact the entire time, checking in every thirty minutes.

The comm device was attached to Elijah’s ear; Shuler had one connected to his wrist brace, but since his ears were larger than a human’s, and located atop his head… it didn’t seem very fitting for him to have it placed inside his ear. He had the means to communicate if necessary, but otherwise, the task was Elijah’s.

The first thirty minutes passed quickly as they walked in silence. It was broken only by Elijah checking in with the captain.

The next thirty minutes came and went as well; already they had been out here for an hour, and nothing of importance had occurred.

Maybe this would be a smooth perimeter check, and they’d head back without any surprises.

There was a first time for everything, after all.

And the less time spent in Elijah’s presence, the better.

xXx

Kikira Sondou was an expert with communication technology; she could rig a homemade radio in minutes, if needed. Currently, her task was to keep an eye on Elijah and Shuler’s location and vitals, and make sure they checked in every thirty minutes. They were due for their third check in within the next five minutes, if Athena was keep track correctly.

Athena ran system checks on the software uploaded into the control panel, searching for anything amiss. Celeste was working double time on repairing what she could of the ship; the cosmetic damage could wait until later, but the shields needed repaired, and diagnostics needed to be ran on the core to make sure it was at optimal temperature for their departure, whenever they would be leaving. That little detail had not been mentioned to her; she did not know when they would be departing.

Every so often, Athena looked away from her own work, spinning her chair around to face Kikira, who sat across the room hunched over the communication panel. Two male outlines flashed on the screen affixed to the wall, representing Elijah and Shuler, respectively. Their vitals appeared fine; they were not in danger.

Athena looked back at her work, sighing softly.

It had been a long day; she was exhausted. She stayed awake almost as long as the captain, before he slept after they entered the system. And after the adrenaline rush brought on by the attack earlier… she was ready for a long night’s rest.

Speaking of night, it was dark here, on this planet. They landed during the night cycle, which let them hide easier, but also meant there could be dangerous wildlife out there. She did a quick check of the area earlier, and it mentioned carnivorous animals living in the woods.

She looked again at the vitals’ screen; everything appeared fine. Elijah and Shuler were fine.

It was just the frustration getting to her; she wanted to either be out there _doing something_ , or she wanted to sleep. She hated just running scans.

The door at the back of the room opened. She spun to face it and found the captain entering, rubbing at his eyes. He looked exhausted, with dark rings under his eyes, the adrenaline from earlier long gone. He caught her eye and nodded toward the other door near the back, which lead up instead of down.

“I’ll be in my cabin if you need me,” he said. “Don’t hesitate to call me, and I want those two checking in every thirty minutes. If they’re not back by 2200, wake me, and I’ll go look for them myself.”

Athena nodded, and the captain left the room, heading up the smaller staircase toward the captain’s quarters.

She sighed and looked back at her screens. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, which left her on edge. Nothing ever went this well.

 _But perhaps we are getting a break,_ she thought. _It’s about time, after all._

They’d had a rough day, and managed to get out of a space fight without too much damage. Lives had been lost, though they had been enemy lives. Lives were still lives. In her previous job, she knew how to defend herself, but she never actively took lives.

Just another thing she would get used to, she supposed.

“Kikira, you there?”

The staticy voice came through the comm system where Kikira sat.

“Yes, Eli, I’m here,” Kikira replied. “You are early checking in.”

Which was a little odd; being a minute later wasn’t unheard of, but being five minutes early…

“We heard something,” Elijah said distastefully. “We’re going to check it out, so we have to use radio silence for a few minutes. We thought we’d check in early.”

“Very well, but use caution,” Kikira advised in her smooth, methodical tone.

“We will,” Elijah assured, and then there was the telltale fizz of the connection being ended.

Athena sighed again; she knew it had been going too smoothly.

xXx

“This is your fault,” Elijah groaned as they ran through the trees. Behind him, he fired at the strange wildlife chasing them.

Shuler laughed as he ran ahead of Elijah, swiping low-hanging branches and vines out of the way with his daggers, clearing a path for the human behind him. “ _You’re_ the one who just _had_ to check out the noise, when I _told you_ it was _nothing_ ,” he called back over his shoulder.

And this was true. The whine Elijah heard was different from what Shuler heard, since Shuler’s hearing was superior. He knew it was not a distressed cry, but rather a hunting cry; this carnivore caught scent of prey, and if they moved quickly, _away_ from it, they would not be that prey. Instead, Elijah insisted they travel _toward_ the sound, because, to his untrained ears, it sounded like a wail of distress.

Perhaps, in a way, it was noble of him to wish to help. Yet, still very foolish. He refused to listen to Shuler, and now they were running for their lives.

The beast in question had armor plating around its body; the only weak point was its stomach, which it kept low to the ground as it moved quickly, nearly slithering on its short legs. Short, but fast legs. It was easily keeping pace with them, probably built for endurance running rather than short bursts, which meant that while Elijah and Shuler would eventually tire and slow, the beast would not.

Shuler could run longer and faster than Elijah, but that would mean leaving the human behind.

Shuler abruptly stopped, assessing the situation. Armor plating, short legs… there was no way this thing could climb.

Elijah nearly slammed into his back. A hand pushed roughly at his shoulder. “Are you stupid? Keep moving!”

There was a snarl behind them; the beast would burst from the undergrowth any second now.

Shuler growled and snagged Elijah’s arm, pulling him closer. Elijah staggered, resisting. “Hold onto me,” Shuler snapped, glaring at the human.

Elijah opened his mouth to argue, but then the beast arrived.

Shuler yanked him closer, and cool arms wrapped around Shuler’s neck. Shuler then dove toward the nearest tree and began climbing upward. It was difficult with the added weight on his back, and it had been a while since he’d climbed a tree this way, with his retractable claws, but it was an old feeling which quickly came back to him. He climbed quickly and efficiently, with Elijah’s legs dangling behind them due to the man’s taller stature.

“I hate you,” Elijah groaned into his ear, grip tightening, nearly cutting off Shuler’s air. “I hate this, I hate you, this is your fault, this is-”

The beast below them jumped, attempting to snap at Elijah’s ankles, but they rose out of its reach. It snarled angrily, and Shuler climbed higher and higher until he found a suitable branch upon which to rest. He slid onto it and huffed loudly, rolling his shoulders.

“You can get off now,” he said plainly.

Elijah growled and released him, sitting uneasily on the tree limb. From here, Shuler could see the ground, but only because of his night vision. He wasn’t sure how much Elijah could see, but nevertheless, the human looked down and closed his eyes.

“Don’t like heights?” Shuler asked.

“Shut up,” Elijah snapped.

Irritation grated against Shuler’s nerves. “Do you always have to be such an ass?”

“Excuse me?” Elijah’s eyes opened and focused on him.

“You heard me.”

“How am _I_ being the ass?”

“Oh, so you’re accusing _me_ now?”

“Well, _you’re_ the one who-”

Something firm hit the base of the tree, the beast ramming into it. The vibrations could be felt all the way up here, but Shuler didn’t think they were in any real danger of it knocking the tree over. It would tire itself out eventually. The base was wide and the trunk was thick; it would take more than a beast a meter tall to knock it over.

The beast released this low whine.

And again, and again.

The same pitch, the same length, over and over.

“What’s it doing?” Elijah asked, the anger gone from his voice.

Shuler inhaled slowly. “Summoning help.”

“ _Help_? There’s more of them out there?”

“Probably,” Shuler said.

“Shit,” Elijah muttered.

_My sentiments exactly._

There were answering whines now, getting closer. It was hard to differentiate them all, but there had to be at least six of them on their way here. Judging by their size compared to the size of this tree… it would be enough to knock the tree over, and then they’d be surrounded.

Shuler grit his teeth, hissing under his breath, ears resting flat atop his head.

“What?” Elijah asked, unaware of the situation since he probably couldn’t see the ground.

“We have to move,” Shuler told him.

“And how do you suggest we do that?” Elijah asked, glare evident in his voice. “You’re the one who dragged us up here!”

“I know that,” Shuler snapped back. “But we’re about to be overrun; how was I supposed to know it had reinforcements?”

“Aren’t you the animal?”

Something _snapped_. Not physically, but the snap was evident all the same. Without thinking, Shuler spun toward Elijah, already clawing at him. His claws caught hold of the light armor and fabric across his shoulder, knocking him from the branch. Before his claws even left the human, he gripped tightly, catching him before he could slip completely, and righting him. Elijah’s eyes widened as he clawed at Shuler’s hand uncertainly.

“What the hell?”

“I’m tired of your attitude,” Shuler snapped, glaring at him. “You hate me, I get it. Say one more negative thing about me, though, and I _will_ fight back with teeth and fang, do you understand?”

Elijah stared at him for a moment. “And your true colors are shown. I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

Shuler snarled, hissing. “Find your own way down.”

With that, he released his grip on Elijah’s arm, and jumped off the branch.

“Shu-!”

Shuler ignored the human, using his falling momentum to leverage himself sideways, where he reached for the tree trunk. His claws connected and he slid down halfway due to the speed at which he was falling, before he finally came to a stop. Below him, the beast jumped as high as it could, sensing he was closer now, attempting to snap sharp fangs closed around his heels. He was still too high up, though, and quickly looked around for a place to jump.

“Shuler!”

He scowled and continued to ignore Elijah. He could find his own way down.

 _There_.

A tree not too far away; if he leveraged himself just right, he could make it to the nearest branch of the second tree. The only question was if the branch would hold his weight as he flung himself over there.

 _Have to risk it,_ he decided. He couldn’t be stuck in this tree with Elijah a second longer.

“I’m sorry,” Elijah snapped. “Okay? I’m sorry.”

_Huh?_

He looked upward, the moonlight catching against his eyes. Instantly Elijah’s gaze focused on him; he probably couldn’t even see Shuler until he looked up, but somehow knew he was still there, and not down on the ground. The huffing of the beast below probably informed him of this.

“I’m sorry,” Elijah said slowly, enunciating clearly. “I. Am. Sorry. Okay? Can you get us out of this now, please?”

_Huh. Didn’t expect that._

Truthfully, he didn’t. Elijah never once apologized to him the entire time they’d known each other. Was he sincere now, or did he just not know another way down?

Indecision clawed at Shuler’s gut.

_Either way, leaving him here is wrong._

He wouldn’t have left him there, anyway. He would have figured something out, some other way for Elijah to get down, or he’d lure the beasts away himself. He was faster than the human, after all. He could do it. Leaving Elijah here, defenseless, while he himself snuck away was unthinkable.

Still, the apology was unexpected.

Shuler sighed heavily. “Stay here,” he said finally. “Don’t move for ten minutes, don’t even speak. After ten minutes, if I’m not back, call for help. They can get you down.”

“What? Where are you going?”

“What do you care?” Shuler asked, frowning. “Just do as I say, alright?”

_For once, will you just listen to me?_

“That’s a stupid plan,” Elijah said. “Will you just climb back up here?”

“No.”

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

Shuler huffed. “Will you just do as I say? We don’t have time to argue.”

“This is a stupid plan. What are you going to do? I can’t get down on my own, genius; I don’t have nifty claws like you do.”

_Leaving a crew member to die is not right. Leaving a crew member to die is not right. Leaving a crew member to die is not right…_

The mantra repeated several times in Shuler’s head.

He inhaled slowly. “Just do as I say. You’ll be fine.”

Then he retracted his claws.

He had a moment to witness Elijah’s eyes widen, the moonlight catching on them just so. A gloved hand reached out, too late and too far away.

The drop was quick and hard. He landed in a crouch, then used his momentum to roll forward so he didn’t crush his ankles. He came up standing, and then he was running. The beast at the bottom of the tree looked startled for only a second, before the chase began.

Shuler loved a good chase; he enjoyed the thrill it gave him, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. A game of cat and mouse, as Athena called it. Yet, he was the mouse in this game; but he would be a tricky mouse.

The beast behind him snarled viciously, howling for its comrades to join it so they could take down this prey together.

 _Good,_ Shuler thought. _Yes, follow me, ignore the human._

He ran a little faster, feeling hot breath breathing down the back of his legs, instinct alerting him of the fangs attempting to bite down into the unprotected flesh of his calves. His tail lashed out angrily behind him, easily allowing him swifter turning speed as he vaulted over a fallen tree trunk, making a sharp turn immediately after. The beast couldn’t turn as swiftly, but managed to keep pace nevertheless.

More snarls, from nearby. Its pack was growing closer.

He made another sharp turn, but made the mistake of not eying the ground around the brush as he did so. His ankle caught in an upturned root and he fell forward, losing his balance, his tail not enough to save it this time.

He hit the ground running.

Running on his hands and feet, on all floors, was something he tried not to do; it left him feeling like even more of an outsider, surrounding by humans. They already looked at him oddly, treated him differently; this just cemented the fact he was not one of them, though he grew up among them.

 _“Do not fear what you are; instead, embrace it,”_ an instructor once told him as he sat alone in the courtyard, neglected by his peers. _“They might ridicule you, but the truth is they are only jealous of what you can do, and that they themselves can never master.”_

He could run as a human; he could _be_ human in all but appearance, but he could also be himself.

And he was a cat. That wasn’t the correct name for him, but his species was a dead one; his home planet had been destroyed when its sun went supernova, over half a century ago. Or so he was told; he could very well be the last of his kind.

He knew nothing of his culture, what his people had been like, didn’t even know his parents. He was raised by humans, raised to _act_ human.

But he was not human. Not really.

‘Humanoid’, as Elijah said; but not human.

There were times when this came in handy, though; such as now, running on all floors. He could run faster this way, and with his tail easily balancing him, he made sharp turns and avoided upturned roots, since he was closer to the ground, and it was easier to divide his attention between where his feet landed and the path ahead of him.

The snarls grew a little further away; he was losing them.

_Those things have large noses and mouths; they’ll be following my scent. I need to lose them._

A river, then.

There was a river near the _Saurian_ , but leading them back to the crew was not an option. He would lose them elsewhere.

He took in a deep breath; the scent of dirt and trees were the most prominent, but beneath that, he did smell the misty scent of water. It wasn’t truly a scent all on its own, but rather the moss gave it is scent, and the aquatic life thriving within the liquid. It had been a long time since he’d scented for water; since he’d scented for anything, really. He didn’t hunt anymore. He didn’t chase anymore.

He had no need to scent.

Except for this once.

The habit of scenting was an easy one to fall back into.

And fall he did.

He made another swift turn, around a broken, fallen tree branch, and pushed through thorny bushes. The thorns caught on his fur and clothes, scratched briefly against his sensitive ears, before he broke free of the brush and made another turn. By this point, he could hear the rush of water; it was moving quickly, and there were probably rapids. A large river, then.

He didn’t plan on a large river, but he would make it work.

He broke through the undergrowth and stopped.

The river was _massive_.

It had to be at least ten meters across, wide and most probably deep. Too far to jump, or wade through, especially with these rapids. The white caps were visible even in the darkness, the distorted light from the twin moons catching across the surface before quickly dispersing into flickers of nothing. The snarls from behind him grew closer.

He was out of time.

He looked right, then left.

No nearby rocks to jump across.

He ran down the edge of the wide river, water spitting at him as the waves jutted across the jagged bank. There had to be a way across somewhere. Or, there had to at least be a place where the waves weren’t as large, the water wasn’t as fast, and he could wade in, wipe off his scent, and throw the beasts off his trail.

The river wasn’t closing in on itself, though; it was only growing wider, the further he went.

He made a mistake.

_I went the wrong way._

He stopped, sucking in air greedily, fur bristling along his back, jutting against his oppressive clothing and light armor. His clawed fingers curled into the dirt beneath him as he spun in place, searching.

_There’s no way across._

The snarls were nearly upon him.

_I made a mistake._

_This is a dead end._

He could keep running along the river’s edge, but if he continued this way, it stood to reason the river would either stay this wide, or continue growing wider. It might even open into a lake, and he’d be stuck again.

He could turn around, and try going down the river in the opposite direction, but that meant running _toward_ the danger, and he had no idea how many beasts there were.

Or he could stand his ground and fight until he was overwhelmed.

Or…

He gritted his teeth.

_I hate the water._

With that thought in mind, he turned and leaped.

The water was shockingly cold against his fur and skin; his armor, though light, attempted to weigh him down almost immediately, and he found kicking with his running boots was not a good way to swim. Water clogged the shoes and threatened to take him to the bottom. The waves also attempted to thwart his escape to the surface.

By the time he finally resurfaced, he was left gasping for breath even as he shivered, the cool night air immediately wrapping around his wet body. Waves carried him down the river, try as he might to swim to the opposite side. As he twisted with the waves, attempting to keep his head above water, he caught sight of the beasts along the river’s edge, staring at him and howling angrily.

They stomped for a moment, running after him along the edge. The water crashed over Shuler’s head as his side connected painfully with a moss-covered rock, too slippery for him to grab, and too sudden for him to see. Nevertheless, cold fingers clawed pitifully at it, but slipped away.

He managed a quick breath before he was sucked under again, the waves slamming into him, pushing him down, down, down. Beneath the surface it was cold and dark; something slippery passed by his face, brushing his whiskers and nose. He snapped at it without thinking even as he clawed upward, kicking with his feet, his lungs screaming.

The beasts were gone from the edge, he noticed almost absently as he resurfaced again. He was still stuck in the middle of the ever-widening river, being pulled along its stream, unable to find a way out. He was away from the beasts, but this was yet another predicament.

Did he have a choice, though?

The thoughts were ripped away from him as he was once again thrust beneath the surface. His fight was waning.

It was cold.

Cold and dark and wet.

His lungs burned.

He clawed for the surface once more, only barely able to poke his head above the water.

_I made a mistake._

He made a sloppy mistake, and now he would pay for it if he couldn’t get out of the water, or find something to hold onto. If he couldn’t keep his head above water…

Fear was not a foreign feeling, but it wasn’t an old friend, either. He grew up living in fear – fear of being ridiculed, fear of being cast aside, fear of dying alone, fear of making a fatal mistake in his training… fear of the water.

_“I can’t swim.”_

_“Sure you can; everyone can swim, even animals.”_

_“That’s offensive, sir.”_

_“I don’t mean it offensively; it is just a fact. You might not like the water, but you should learn to swim.”_

He did learn to swim; just not in the rapids.

To be fair, it was either jump in the water or be eaten alive.

Drowning didn’t seem like a good alternative, though.

Strength quickly waning, he fought for the surface again, heart racing wildly in his chest as his lungs burned once more for the air he didn’t have.

As his head broke the surface, he knew he couldn’t do it again.

If he was sucked deep under again, that was it; he was too tired to keep fighting the currents and waves.

Too tired to keep fighting for air.

“Over here! Catch!”

The voice was sudden and barely audible over the rushing water and the sound of his heart thundering in his ears, but he snapped his head over all the same, just in time to see a large mess of vines being thrown at him. Momentarily stunned, it smacked him in the face and he went back under.

Even so, his hands curled around the mossy green vine and he clung for all he was worth.

He felt himself being pulled through the water, pulled through the waves and currents, and attempted to swim in the direction he was being pulled, even as he fought to once again reach the surface. He was so tired, and it was so cold, but there was hope. Somehow, inexplicably, there was hope.

As his head broke the surface, he gasped greedily for air as his eyes scanned the bank, spotting a figure standing there, weight shifted backward as they attempted to pull him through the waves.

“Hang on!” the person said.

Their voice was familiar.

But Shuler was too tired to place it right now.

He could barely see through the water.

Barely hear over the waves and the beating of his frantic heart.

He was pulled closer to the side, but noticed something as well.

_They’re slipping._

The person pulling him through the waves was beginning to slip, their feet sliding closer to the edge.

It was a bad angle, a steep incline; it was a miracle they stood so long.

Shuler was only going to drag them in as well.

_I should let go._

Knowing what was right and actually doing it were two very different things, especially when one’s life was involved. If he let go, he’d be washed away again. He’d save the person from falling in with him, but he’d be lost.

_I’m lost either way._

If he let go, he’d be swept away by the current.

If he held on, they’d both be swept away.

His fingers twitched, ready to release the vines, when the person’s feet suddenly gave way.

They toppled into the water, but managed to cling desperately to the edge with one arm, the other hand still holding onto the vines which connected to Shuler.

“Hold on,” they called again, coughing out droplets of water. “I’ve got you, hold on…”

_…Elijah?_

It was Elijah, he could see that now.

How? Why?

He left Elijah alone in a tree.

How was he here?

“Make your way to me,” Elijah ordered. “I have a solid grip, just hurry!”

Shuler kicked and swam with exhausted muscles, fighting to get to the edge, moving up the length of the vine inch by inch, coughing out mouthfuls of water as he did so. Every time he went under he feared it would be his last, but he kept a firm grip on the vine, using it to leverage himself back toward the surface.

It felt like an eternity, but he made it to the edge. He made it to Elijah.

“Climb out,” Elijah said. “Use me to climb up, and then pull me out.”

It was an absurd idea, but nevertheless Shuler knew Elijah was right. Elijah had the solid grip; Shuler was merely holding onto the human’s shoulder at this point. Elijah brought his other hand over to hold onto the embankment as well, and Shuler kicked violently, forcing himself up enough that he could begin to claw his way up the length of Elijah’s body.

His claws dug through clothing and skin, scraped against the light armor, but in the end he made it out of the water.

He flopped onto the now muddy ground, exhausted, breathing heavily for just a moment. Then he rolled over, held himself up on sore, aching muscles, and reached down for Elijah. Elijah’s hand met his in a solid but somewhat slick grip, and Shuler began to pull upward.

It was a slow process, but eventually Elijah was out of the water as well, and not nearly as soaked as Shuler.

They both flopped breathlessly onto the ground.

“You came back for me,” Shuler coughed, spitting out leftover water.

“You led the things away,” Elijah replied, voice rough as he coughed, too. “The least I could do was come find your sorry ass.”

Despite himself, Shuler laughed. It was weak and wet, more pathetic than anything, but it bubbled up in his chest and he couldn’t stop it.

Elijah laughed quietly, too.

They laughed and laughed, and then just lay there, exhausted but breathing.

“Did you call for back-up?” Shuler asked a few minutes later, once he felt his lungs would forgive him for speech.

“No,” Elijah admitted hesitantly.

“And why not?”

_Why do you never listen to me?_

“I made it out of the tree with the vines; after you left, I looked around and actually spotted them above us. It was hard to climb to it, but I managed. Then I made my way down, but landed wrong,” Elijah said. “This was only a few minutes after you left, by the way; so, you know, _you could have waited until we had a better plan._ ”

Shuler closed his eyes, sighing. He led the beasts away and Elijah was still angry with him. There was no pleasing the guy.

“Anyway,” Elijah continued, “I landed wrong, and kind of… broke the communicator. So I couldn’t call for anyone.”

“How did you _break_ it? It’s in your _ear_ ,” Shuler said with a quiet laugh.

“I landed at an odd angle and it fell out,” Elijah muttered. “Can we not talk about it? What about your communicator?”

“Think it’s pretty waterlogged,” Shuler replied.

The communicators could handle a little water, but not an entire river’s worth of water. If it touched water, it had to be removed immediately; the longer it was in the water, the more damaged it got as the equipment flooded.

“So, to sum up,” Shuler said, “we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with predators around us, and we have no way to contact the _Saurian_.”

“Sounds about right,” Elijah sighed.

“Perfect.”

 


	3. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah and Shuler make baby steps toward common ground; meanwhile, Kane receives his orders.

_ Chapter Three _

 

“It has been an hour since we lost contact with Elijah and Shuler,” Captain Kane said. “It was stated they were going to investigate a sound, and radio silence might be needed, but it has been an hour.”

Athena sat silently in her pilot’s chair, her back to the captain, spine rigid as she listened. He wasn’t addressing her; he was addressing Dante and Mikel, who were going to go to Elijah and Shuler’s last known location and attempt to find them. Kikira tried reaching them several times via their comms, but neither were answering.

The knot which had settled in Athena’s gut since Elijah first said they heard something began to triple in size as the minutes trekked passed. She didn’t exactly trust Elijah when it came to her friend’s safety; she didn’t trust _anyone_ when it came to that, she decided. No one but herself, and she wasn’t allowed to go on this mission, either.

 _“But why, Captain?”_ she asked earlier, when he first told her he would be sending others to search for Shuler and Elijah, and she would be staying here.

_“I need you here.”_

_“I don’t understand; we won’t be leaving without them, and I’m just the pilot. There’s nothing I can do here.”_

_“I need you and Celeste running further system checks. I want to know why we were spotted so easily, and why our tracers couldn’t pick up the enemy ships. This is important, Athena. I understand Shuler is your friend, and I will see them both returned safely. Can you do this for me?”_

_“I… Yes, Captain.”_

As much as she wanted to find her friend, and see for herself he was returned safely, if there was one thing she understood above all else, it was following orders. As an Infiltrator in the Intergalactic Militia, she understood the hierarchy; she knew there were consequences for not following orders, and while this wasn’t expressly stated as an _order_ , she nevertheless knew it was not something she could decline.

The soldier in her body, the ex-spy, responded immediately.

And thus she kept silent while the captain briefed Dante Nitros and Mikel Brunov on their crew members’ last known location. Meanwhile, she and Celeste would communicate and attempt to do another complete scan of their entire systems, and Kikira would remain here and keep attempting to contact their missing comrades, as well as monitor the channels.

Their vitals were still visible on her screen. Briefly, Shuler’s flickered in and out, showing high signs of stress and alarm and a lack of air in the lungs, but those evened out after a few long moments. Their crew members were still alive, just not responding to them.

She listened silently as footsteps left the room, and then other footsteps approached behind her. She stiffened just before the person behind her spoke.

“Thank you for understanding,” Captain Kane said calmly. “I am sure we will have them back before daylight.”

 _I hope so,_ she thought, but left unspoken.

“Kikira, keep me posted on their conditions. Keep trying to contact them, and let me know if anything changes. I am going to check in with Celeste.”

With those words, Kane left the room.

Athena released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, and with a few taps of her fingers, started another localized scan of the ship.

“So,” Kikira started slowly, quietly, “what’s the deal with you and the cat?”

Athena stiffened. “Excuse me?”

“You and the cat,” Kikira repeated, and then stammered. “Oh! I don’t mean that offensively! He has just never told me the name of his species, and neither has anyone else. I apologize; I meant not offense!”

Kikira Sondou was as by-the-book as they came, when it concerned the rules of the ship and following protocol. However, outside of that, she liked to talk. She wasn’t exactly a gossip; she could and would keep a secret if asked, but she did enjoy conversation, especially the girly kind. She was sweet, in a way. In another life, perhaps they could have been friends.

As it was, Athena had only one friend, and he was currently missing.

She didn’t know Kikira well enough to become friends with her, and asking personal questions felt rude.

_At least with Shuler, I didn’t have to ask._

She was tasked with gathering intel on him, after all. They met when he got irritated with her ‘failed attempts at sneaking’, as he so eloquently called it, and finally confronted her. By this time, she’d learned a great deal about him, and after Shuler ‘showed her how stalking was done correctly’, he learned nearly everything about her as well. It became a game to learn more without asking.

She wasn’t good with people, with asking and answering questions. As an Infiltrator, her job was to remain behind the scenes and gather intel on her own, by finding the carefully hidden secrets kept by her targets.

She failed when it came to casual conversation with people upon whom she hadn’t spied.

“Uh…” she said smartly. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re friends, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“Do you like him?”

“Excuse me?”

Athena finally turned in her chair to give Kikira her full attention. She found the dark-skinned woman watching her carefully, a thoughtful expression plastered across her face.

Kikira smiled faintly. “Do you like him?” she asked. “I see you two together often. And inter-species relationships across the galaxy are becoming more accepted. I was just curious; you don’t have to answer me.”

Kikira wasn’t wrong. While there were different species on some planets, ‘aliens’ as dubbed by the humans, it was becoming more accepted and legal to date and marry alien species if they were sentient and had mutual feelings. They just couldn’t procreate, so it was still frowned upon by some people, and considered completely ‘unnatural’ by others.

It didn’t matter to Athena; if you loved someone, you should be with them no matter what. The opinions of others didn’t matter.

Athena stared at her for a long moment, before she smiled. “We’re just friends,” she said before swiveling back around to face her screens. The localized scan was 62% completed.

“I’m sure we’ll get them both back safely,” Kikira offered after a moment of silence.

Athena sighed; she wished she could have the same faith, but the truth was, she honestly didn’t know if they’d be found safely. She had no idea what was happening outside the ship. All she knew was Shuler’s life signs had flickered once already, and while they were low but stable for now, indicating deep exhaustion and low energy levels, she didn’t know how much longer that would last. She had no idea what was happening out there, and she didn’t particularly trust Elijah to have her friend’s back.

Elijah’s distaste for Shuler had never been a secret, after all. While she assured Shuler their crew member didn’t hate him, it was just empty reassurances. She had no real facts to support her evidence. Elijah often sneered when in Shuler’s presence, glared at him and watched him frequently, whenever they were near each other. Shuler did his best to stay out of Elijah’s way. Nevertheless, while she reassured Shuler that Elijah would watch his back whilst the two were away scouting together, she herself wasn’t entirely certain. She didn’t _think_ Elijah would allow something to happen to a fellow crew member, but then again, Elijah didn’t really see Shuler as a _crew member_.

 _“Avenge me, Athy,”_ Shuler said before he left the ship.

_I will. Negligence will not be tolerated._

xXx

“Would you stop that?”

Shuler pulled his tongue out of the fur of his arm and scowled across the large tree limb at Elijah, who sat against the area where the branch began, along the trunk. “I’m sorry, it’s how _animals_ dry themselves.”

Elijah sighed heavily, shaking his head even as he wound his arms tighter around himself. Their clothes were still wet, but at least they were out of the water and, for the most part, out of danger for the time being. If the beasts came back they’d find them yet again up a tree. If they attempted to knock the tree over… well, Shuler would worry about that if and when it happened.

They figured it would be safer to remain here until sunrise. Then they could make their way back to the ship. As it was, they were turned around and their equipment was waterlogged. Shuler could probably find the way back to the ship by retracing their steps, but getting Elijah to listen to him would be the difficult part, not to mention the fact he was exhausted at the moment. Nearly drowning took its toll, even on someone not human.

He drew in a slow breath, glancing again at Elijah, who was glaring down at his lap, where his hands rested clasped together. “You didn’t have to come after me, you know,” he said quietly, because the thought was still on his mind.

Elijah hated him, and yet went searching for him. He left the safety of the tree and went looking for him anyway, and somehow miraculously managed to find him.

Without Elijah he would have probably drowned.

“I know,” Elijah sighed.

“So… why did you?” Shuler asked, because it was a nagging question which demanded an answer. He was never very good at controlling his curiosity.

His instructors weren’t happy with him because of it.

_“The phrase is ‘curiosity killed the cat’, Shuler. For us, it can be especially deadly. One wrong step can get you killed. If you do not take things seriously, you will die. I thought you were eager to become one of us.”_

_“I am, Sir. More than anything.”_

_“Then you must put away such childish notions. There is no room for curiosity among us.”_

He often got in trouble and punished because he couldn’t curb his curiosity.

_But I’m not with them anymore. I’m just a crew member on a ship. Nothing more. There’s a little room for curiosity._

“Why did you?” he asked again, when Elijah remained silent.

The human sighed and finally looked up at him. “You’re a member of the crew. Leaving you alone wasn’t an option.”

His words were short and clipped.

Nevertheless, Shuler smiled. “I think that’s the first time you’ve referred to me as a member of the crew.”

Elijah rolled one shoulder in a small shrug.

“Progress,” Shuler said. “I like it. And, thanks. If I didn’t say it before. I mean, you did save my life. I probably could have gotten out of it on my own, eventually, but thanks. I appreciate it.”

Elijah snorted, sparing him another glance. His hazel eyes glittered faintly in the moonlight. “You were flailing like a drowned cat. Is that what you call swimming?”

Shuler shrugged off the insult. “I never said I was the best swimmer.”

“Can you swim?”

“I stayed alive in the water, didn’t I?”

Elijah snorted. “That’s debatable. You looked ridiculous.”

“Thanks. You’re too kind.”

Elijah barked out a laugh. It was so sudden, and immediately cut off, that the two were left staring at each other for a long moment. Finally, Shuler snickered, grinning.

“You’re not so bad when you’re not being an unbearable jerk,” Shuler told him.

Elijah sighed, his eyes catching the moonlight again briefly as they rolled. “Uh, thanks,” he said sarcastically.

“You’re welcome.” Shuler looked around, sighing. “One of us should probably get some sleep. You go ahead; I’ll take first watch.”

Elijah nodded in the darkness. “Sounds good, I’m exhausted.”

Shuler fought the urge to snort; Elijah couldn’t be more tired than him. He wasn’t the one who nearly drowned, after all.

Nevertheless, he stayed silent.

He would take first watch.

xXx

Captain Kane slid his right index finger over his personal pad again, flipping through the digital pages of the report he needed to file to explain the attack which occurred in space, just outside of Erudad. According to Athena and Celeste, all of his systems were working correctly; the _Saurian_ should have been invisible, and should have been able to pick up traces of the enemy ships before they attacked. For the enemy to have such advanced technology…

It left him baffled, as he’d been told _his_ ship received the most advanced cloaking and maneuvering technology, made for stealth, and yet…

They’d been caught unaware.

It didn’t make any sense.

_How…?_

With a heavy sigh, his finger tapped lightly across the ‘send’ button, and the file was sent to his commanding officer. He would receive further instructions – and hopefully some answers – afterward. He’d asked if they should continue their assigned job on this planet, or if they should return to base to discuss what happened, and possibly look into more upgrades.

He checked the time flashing on his personal pad. He had it set for human military time, because that was what he knew best. Most of his crew – excepting Shuler – were human, and so they, too, used that particular time. Shuler, while not human, was raised by humans and knew the time as well. Across the galaxies, though, they had to use more… standard ways of telling time.

No two galaxies were the same, after all. No two planets were, either. Some had shorter days, some longer; some planets had several hundred years before a day on the human home world even passed. Alien species also had their own way of telling time, so that had to be taken into consideration as well. In the end, a more standard time was needed.

While he used words like ‘2200’ to describe a point in time, they did not.

“Captain, I’m sorry to disturb you, but Dante and Mikel are back, sir.”

Kikira’s smooth voice slid through his room, and he sighed once more, putting down his personal pad.

“Were they successful?” he asked, out of mere hope more than anything else, as a part of him already knew the answer. If they had been successful and Elijah and Shuler were back as well, Kikira would have said so.

“Negative, Captain,” Kikira said tiredly. “They were unable to locate the two of them in the allotted time. Would you like them sent out again?”

“No,” Kane said. “It’s likely they won’t find anything in the dark. We’ll start fresh in the morning, and I’ll go as well.”

Two members of his crew were missing, after all; he had to look for them. The ship was in the best of hands at the moment; Celeste managed to fix most of the damage save for the cosmetic kind, as she was ‘not a painter’, and Athena said her additional scans turned up nothing. The ship was ready to leave.

All the _Saurian_ needed now was her crew.

His personal pad beeped once in his hand. His grip on it had gone slack so the sudden vibration of his alert left it slipping from his fingers. He managed to catch it before he could drop it, though, and he looked at it in surprise, not expecting a response so soon.

His eyes scanned over his reply, and he felt his teeth clenching. His dentist would not be happy with him.

_Captain Kane,_

_That is unfortunate news. We will look into it. In the meantime, you are expected to complete your mission. Please contact us once the mission is complete._

_Sincerely,_

_The Intergalactic Council_

Kane read over the quick reply several times, before he sighed and dropped his personal pad onto his bed. His fingers were rough when he scrubbed them across his face, nails catching briefly on his stubble-ridden jawline.

Sometimes, listening to his superiors left him more than a little agitated.

They’d been attacked on their way here, by enemies with superior technology. It left so many unanswered questions; did the enemy know they were coming here? Did they know what their job was on this planet? Did they know their target? Or was it just a random attack?

If Kane had his way, they’d leave this planet without completing the mission. Answers were needed, as well as additional safety measures. Instead, he was being told to complete the mission anyway, while the Council looked into it.

He reached over to the bedside table and pressed the comm button. “Kikira, please send Dante and Quinton to my quarters.”

There was a brief pause. “Very well, Captain,” Kikira replied. “Will that be all?”

“Yes, thank you.”

It was time for another scouting mission – this time in civilization.

After all, the mission needed to be completed.

xXx

Athena ran a localized diagnostic for the seventh time. She knew it would not yield different results, but she was in need of a distraction. Her eyelids were heavy, but she knew sleep would not come easily. She was used to sharing a warm beverage with Shuler before she slept; there would be none of that until he returned.

Worry was not a familiar feeling for her. As an Infiltrator, she trusted no one save her superiors, and friends meant weakness. Worry meant weakness. She could not be distracted on the job. But she wasn’t an Infiltrator anymore, and Shuler was her first and only friend.

And so, she worried.

And since she did not worry often, and never in the past, she found it hard to combat.

The search for Elijah and Shuler would start fresh once the sun rose. Erudad had a sixteen hour night cycle, and waiting for it to pass was not an easy task. To make matters worse, Dante and Quinton had been sent out to scout toward civilization, as Kane wanted the mission completed. A part of her was angry with the fact he sent people out for the mission, but refused to send out another party in search of their missing crew members.

However, Kane was the captain and knew what he was doing. It was smart to wait until dawn to search for Shuler and Elijah; it would be easier to pick up their trail, and most likely less dangerous for a small search party. However, scouting for the mission most probably needed to completed in the darkness, as it gave them the advantage. Tactically, it made sense, and she understood that.

Still, worry was hard to curb.

“You should get some sleep,” Kikira said from behind her, startling her. Last she knew, Kikira left the room hours ago, after Kane sent out Dante and Quinton. Dante and Quinton had already checked in a few times, but Athena had been the one to answer the comms, or Kane himself.

“I will eventually,” Athena said, turning to face Kikira. “What are you doing here?” Her mouth drooled. “Is that coffee I smell?”

Coffee was a beverage which had been around for a very long time, and Athena doubted it would ever disappear. They hoarded coffee on this ship; bags upon bags of it to brew, stuffed in multiple cabinets in the mess hall.

Kikira held out a steaming mug of fresh coffee. “I thought you could use a pick-me-up, since you refuse to sleep.”

“Oh, I could kiss you,” Athena said, accepting the mug and taking a quick, tentative sip. Despite how much she loved the beverage and wanted to drink the coffee, she had no desire to burn her tongue immediately. “Thank you, Kikira.”

“You’re welcome. Anything new on the scans?”

Athena sighed as the hot liquid ran down her throat. “No. I don’t expect anything new, I just…”

“Need the distraction?”

She nodded absently, looking away.

“I’m sure they’re fine, Athena.”

“I know. They’re resilient.”

_That’s not really the issue. The issue is I’m not sure if I trust Elijah to watch my friend’s back, since he dislikes him so much._

Athena took another sip of her hot beverage. “Thanks, again, for the coffee.”

“It’s not a problem. Did the boys check in while I was gone?”

Kikira returned to her seat at the communication station, and Athena sighed.

“Dante and Quinton did, yes,” she said. “Still nothing from the others.”

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Yeah.”

There had to be a perfectly logical reason they weren’t responding. There were weaknesses in the technology, after all; in some areas, there was no signal so they _couldn’t_ communicate. Also, if it became waterlogged, it shorted out the system.

Still, her scans showed no dead zones nearby in the areas Elijah and Shuler were supposed to scout, and she could see no reason Shuler would go near the water.

_I’m sure they’re fine…_

xXx

Shuler woke to an incessant tapping along his shoulder. Muttering under his breath, his eyes opened and he took stock of his surroundings, realizing it was Elijah, prodding him over and over in an effort to wake him. Elijah was stretched across the limb they sought refuge on hours before, leaning as far as he dared without actually leaving the thicker part of the limb.

A scowl crossed Elijah’s face as Shuler glanced at him. “Can we get down now?”

_He really doesn’t like heights._

Shuler enjoyed heights.

_Then again, I don’t like the water, so…_

Shuler blinked through the leaves of the tree, at the streaks of daylight. “Sure,” he said. “It’s probably time we get back to the ship, huh? Before they leave without us.”

Elijah snorted. “They wouldn’t do that.”

“Yeah, I know.” He took in a breath, twisting so his back was to Elijah as he uncurled from his relaxed sleeping position. “Well, hop on.”

Elijah scowled. “You don’t have to say it like that.”

Nevertheless, he did inch forward until his chest pressed firmly against Shuler’s back, and his arms wound around his neck. Shuler shifted with the newly added weight, nearly staggering, but he’d been trained to do this since he was a child. _Lift this_ , his instructors would say. _Lift that. Carry him. Climb. Swim._

He maneuvered the two of them toward the trunk, angling just so, before he jumped.

Elijah’s arms tightened around him as the human sucked in a quick breath. They dropped several feet through the air before Shuler grabbed hold of the trunk with his claws, clinging fiercely. They slid down a few inches lower before they finally defied gravity.

Then they slowly climbed down the tree, inch by inch, claw by claw.

When Shuler’s feet finally touched the ground, he released a slow breath and rolled his shoulders. “You can let go now.”

Elijah dropped his feet to the ground and released him immediately.

They both stood there for a moment, looking around the foliage. Nothing seemed very familiar. To be honest, Shuler wasn’t paying much attention where he was going when he was fleeing from the beasts and leading them away from Elijah. He could scent his way back to the ship, probably, but the ground was damp with morning dew, somewhat masking everything.

“That way,” Elijah said.

Shuler breathed through his nose and nodded. That smelled right.

The two began walking. The weight of Shuler’s daggers shifted as he walked, comforting him somewhat. Hopefully those beasts which chased them last night were simply nocturnal, and they would not have to worry about them right now.

“So… what do you think those things were last night?” Elijah asked after a few minutes of walking in silence.

Shuler shrugged, then realized Elijah couldn’t see him, since the human was walking ahead of him. “I don’t know, and I don’t particularly care to know.”

“That was, uh… smart thinking, with the tree,” Elijah said somewhat awkwardly.

Shuler smirked to himself, eying the back of Elijah’s dark head of hair. “Are you thanking me?”

“Don’t make me say it.”

“I think I’m going to have to insist, actually.”

Elijah sighed heavily. “You didn’t save my life or anything. In fact, I saved yours.”

Shuler snorted. “And I already _thanked_ you for that, didn’t I?”

“ _Fine_. Thank you, for dragging me up a tree and leaving me there.”

Only Elijah could make thanking someone seem like an insult.

_You didn’t have to come after me, you know. And yet, you did._

Elijah said he had to look for Shuler because he was a member of the crew. And yet, Shuler still wondered _why_. Elijah didn’t like him; he could have searched for a moment, and called it a night. He tried. Instead, he actually managed to not only find Shuler, but save him from drowning.

Silence surrounded them for some time. Shuler attempted to check his comm device again, but it was still damaged from the water. Elijah’s was damaged from climbing out of the tree the first time. They had no way to communicate with the _Saurian_. No way to let them know they were okay, and that they were trying to find their way back. No way to let their crew members know where they were.

_Crew members._

Shuler eyed the back of Elijah’s head again.

Elijah called him a crew member, when before, he didn’t seem to consider Shuler a member of the crew. He was wary of him; thought him untrustworthy. He had an aggressive personality and let someone knew when he didn’t like them. It was an honest personality, though, and Shuler was beginning to see another side of it.

Elijah came looking for him, after all.

_Maybe he doesn’t hate me?_

Shuler mulled this thought over as they continued moving, until he stopped suddenly, a scent catching his attention. Elijah, noticing the lack of his footfalls behind him, stopped and turned to face him, brows furrowing quizzically.

“What?” the human asked, hazel eyes narrowing.

Shuler shook his head, frowning even as he scented the air again. The scent was gone. Perhaps he imagined it. “Nothing, I just… I thought I smelled something. Guess I was wrong.”

“Your nose playing tricks on you?”

Shuler snorted. “Let’s keep moving.”

He pushed past Elijah. A moment later, he heard the near-silent footfalls of the human following after him.

_That was strange._

It was a human scent, but not a member of the crew. Yet, it was gone when he tried to find it again. Maybe his mind really was playing tricks on him.

 _Lack of decent sleep combined with exhaustion from almost drowning,_ he told himself. _Not to mention I haven’t eaten in a while; neither of us have._

Shuler stopped again, this time because of his eyes rather than his nose.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Elijah, “but I don’t remember running past any cliffs last night, do you?”

Elijah stared into the open sky. Before them stood a large downward drop with a steep incline, leading into a denser part of the forest.

“I think we might be a little lost,” Shuler said regretfully. “Let’s turn back and try another way.”

He turned to face Elijah and brush past him, but stopped when he caught sight of something glimmering behind him. Instincts kicked in, and he reacted.

Elijah’s eye widened as he dove at him, colliding with the human. There was a sudden, sharp pain in his lower abdomen as the plasma burned through armor, fur and flesh. Elijah had a brief moment to flail, hands reaching for him, but it was too late.

Shuler’s momentum, added with the way his body recoiled from the shot, left him slipping over the edge.

For a moment, time froze.

Elijah’s eyes were wide, his hand outstretched to catch hold of him and stop his sudden descent. His lips moved, and though Shuler could not hear anything in this moment, he knew they formed his name.

And then gravity yanked him downward.

 


	4. Unrecognized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeahhh I know I haven't updated here in a while. My computer is being a jerk when it comes to updating on this site; it keeps adding random ass symbols everywhere. Finding them and getting rid of them is a nightmare. So. If you see random ass symbols somewhere in a sentence, sorry. I tried. It's a pain in the ass. I'm currently working on chapter 20 of this story, so there's that, I guess. It's slow going, though. Enjoy? If anyone is even still reading this?

_Chapter Four: [Unrecognized]_

Dante Nitros crouched lowly, peering through the scope of his Energy Sniper. Two thin prongs protruded from the weapon's grip, piercing the muscles of his wrist, but not eating his blood. Everything and everyone in the universe had natural energy, and certain types of weapons were powered by that.

Through his scope he watched Quinton stalk up the path toward the village. The inhabitants of this planet seemed more primitive. For hours they'd watched them on their morning routines, and witnessed primitive bows and arrows as well as clubs used for their weapons. Quinton appeared a little out of place, but they'd managed to scrounge for some usable clothing to help him blend in a little more. He wore a wool jacket to cover his armor, though it did make him appear bulkier than usual. His boots were made of a local leather, pants a thin, baggy, brown material.

As long as he did nothing suspicious, he should be able to wander through the village without being noticed. No one would give him a second look unless he did something wrong, like speak. The primitive species here were a mixed breed, some human and some distinctly alien, but even so, they would have their own language. While the translator imbedded in Quinton's implant would help him understand what they were saying, it would not give him the natural ability to speak their language fluently.

The language spoken here was in their system, as certain ships visited here frequently as a pit stop to more desirable locations. Most of the planet was uninhabited or overgrown with a dense blanket of trees and foliage from the vast forests. Through the night cycle, it could be deadly, as nocturnal creatures awoke and sought prey.

A fleeting thought of Elijah and Shuler slid through Dante's mind, reminding him that they were out alone through the dangerous night cycle. While they were the stealthiest members of the crew, and certainly knew how to handle themselves, it still left a pit in his stomach to know they were, as of twenty minutes ago, still missing.

Movement in his scope caught his attention. Just left of Quinton were two figures, one human and one alien, seemingly having a hushed conversation. They kept sending Quinton quick looks, their heads darting back and forth swiftly.

Dante took in a slow breath and raised a finger to his ear, to press the tiny comm button located there. "Quinton, there's two figures to your left; they're watching you."

Quinton, to his credit, didn't react physically to Dante's words. He remained perfectly at ease through the scope. However, Dante knew his words were indeed heard, as Quinton did a natural twist and looked in the two figures' direction. The two quickly looked away, stopping their hushed conversation. Quinton bent down to fix his left boot, then stood back up, twisting his ankle experimentally, before he smiled to himself, perfectly at ease.

Afterward, he turned to head straight forward again. Once he was out of earshot of anyone, he touched a finger to his inside palm, to the secret button hidden there.

"Thanks for the heads-up. Are they still watching me?"

"They're not following you," Dante replied quietly, keeping a close eye on the two. "They're talking amongst themselves. Be wary."

"I will. Where do you think our target is?"

"About twenty yards ahead," Dante said, doing a quick look with his scope. He zeroed in on the target with the familiar face, memorized from looking over the documents on the way to this planet. His hair was longer, partially hiding his face, but he had the same, piercing stare as the photo. Dante zoomed in on the target a little more; they were hunched over a small wooden table, eying some kind of stone sitting atop it. "He's not alone."

There were two others nearby, but not exactly with their target.

"Alright, thanks," Quinton said softly, voice a mere whisper as he continued along the desired path.

Quinton had all the necessary equipment to apprehend their target. Avoiding interference would be the difficult part; it would be easier if their target was alone, but sadly, he was not. That meant it was up to Dante to keep the others off Quinton's back. These people had probably never heard a gun before, let alone an Energy Sniper. In the confusion, Quinton could get away with their target.

This was supposed to simply be a scouting mission, but after relaying to the captain that they caught sight of their target, they were told to go ahead and capture him, if able, and back-up was on the way.

The last time Dante checked in, nearly thirty minutes ago, their back-up was just being sent to their location. They should be arriving soon, depending on how quickly they moved.

They knew this was a high-priority mission, though; they would be here as quickly as possible.

Dante and Quinton had the whole thing planned out; if something went wrong, Quinton was to immediately retreat and Dante would cover him. If everything went to plan, there was an empty hut along the edge of the village that Quinton was to take their target to, and Dante would meet up with him there, along with their back-up.

Then they would take their target back to the _Saurian_.

After that... he didn't know the plan.

The usual plan was to leave immediately, as lingering could cause problems. However, two of their crew were still missing, and leaving without them...

His lips pursed into a thin line.

_The mission comes first. They both understand that much._

Even so, leaving without them would be difficult.

Their pilot was close friends with one of them, after all.

He inhaled slowly, keeping his sight focused on Quinton.

_So far, so good._

He would worry about the rest later. Right now, he needed to focus.

"How much further?" Quinton asked quietly.

"Just up the hill," Dante replied, training his scope on their target once more. "He's at the center table; the others are leaving, it looks like. No one else is around to see you. Just be quick and knock him out, and drag him behind the building, then along the back path, like we discussed."

"Affirmative."

xXx

"With all due respect, Captain, I'm not leaving without them," Athena said, narrowing her eyes at the captain. Kane stood in the center of the room, having sent Kikira out just moments before to discuss the plan with Athena. The plan was to leave as soon as the others got back with the target, even though no further steps had been taken to find Shuler and Elijah. Behind Kane, on the vitals display, were the figures for Dante and Quinton, and not the two who were missing.

Athena trusted Captain Kane, and she understood that the mission should always come first, but leaving without her friend left her gut twisting. At least before, she had his vitals to watch; now she had nothing.

"I'll stay behind," she offered. "I'll search for them. Kikira can fly the ship."

Kikira was the temporary pilot before Athena came aboard, after all. It wasn't her forte, but she could get the job done. Then when they returned to the planet, Athena would take back over piloting the ship, when the rest of their crew members were safe and sound aboard the _Saurian_.

Captain Kane took in a slow, steady breath, gaze leveled onto Athena. "I understand your desire to search for your friend, and I understand your worry. However, the mission comes first, and they both understand that."

She shook her head. "I'll stay behind. The mission can get completed without me."

"Athena, I understand your concerns. I'm worried about them, too."

Athena swallowed; Kane rarely admitted to his own worries, but the look in his eyes told her he was sincere. He didn't want to leave them behind any more than she did, and yet, his hands were tied. Having worked as an Infiltrator, she completely understood the necessity for the mission to be completed above all else. But that was part of the reason she left that life behind; the mission couldn't come before _everything_. She needed to have a life, and that life included friends.

"We will travel swiftly, and return within the week," he told her, holding her gaze. "Shuler and Elijah are talented and capable individuals; I am certain they are fine, and their equipment merely malfunctioned. They can handle themselves, as you well know."

Athena's jaw clenched, her teeth grinding together painfully.

"We will be back within the week," he assured her calmly. His easy, calm, baritone voice left her tense muscles relaxing ever so slightly. "I am certain they can handle themselves until then. But we need you here, Athena. We were already attacked once coming here; the odds are high that there might be another attack as we leave, and we need you at the helm. Kikira is a decent pilot, but she is not as skilled at evasive maneuvering."

All of his words made perfect sense, logically. She felt her resolve wavering, his reason overpowering her steadfast concern.

"So will you stay with us, Athena?"

She drew in a shaky breath, averting her gaze. "Yes," she replied quietly.

_I'm so sorry, Shu. I'll be back for you, I swear. Just take care of yourself._

Kane smiled thinly. "I'm sure Shuler appreciates your friendship, and he understands that the mission comes first."

Yes, Shuler did understand. They both did. Shuler wouldn't blame her for leaving; he would understand completely, and that, perhaps, was the worst part.

He wouldn't blame her.

But she blamed herself.

xXx

_Shuler's dead._

The words kept floating through Elijah's mind as he sat alone in the darkness brought on by his blindfold. The chains wound tightly around his wrists, keeping them locked behind his back, were cutting into his skin every time he shifted. By this point, his fingers were numb and his head was throbbing, but those were the least of his concerns.

_Shuler's dead._

The cat was shot; he took the shot meant for Elijah, and then fell off the cliff into the abyss below. It was steep incline with sharp rocks protruding from the edge; while survival might have been possible if it was just the fall, the likelihood of him surviving both the fall _and_ being shot by a plasma rifle...

_He's dead._

Shuler was dead and Elijah was trapped. As he stared over the cliffside, staring at where Shuler disappeared, figures came from behind and clubbed him over the head. The next thing he knew, he woke in darkness, a blindfold covering his eyes, his wrists tightly chained behind his back. He was in a room, that much was certain from the cool floor beneath him, and the wall behind him that he was also chained to, unable to move very far.

 _It's okay,_ he told himself. _The rest of the crew will be looking for me. Us. Looking for us._

Except it was too late for Shuler. He could at least tell them what happened to the cat, that he died well. That he died protecting Elijah. That he wasn't a coward and deserved a hero's ceremony.

He had been harsh to the cat. Unreasonably so, as Shuler never gave him a reason to doubt him. It was just he wasn't human, and Elijah had bad experiences when it involved alien races. While he wouldn't outright attack them, he was more than little wary of them. He took that out on Shuler unfairly; the cat never gave him any reason to treat him as such, as the cat had only ever tried being friendly.

Perhaps that was why it made Elijah wary, though.

There was an old family friend, Xingar. He was an alien race. He was nice at first, always friendly, offering Elijah candy whenever he came over, easily dropping their defenses. As a child, he was open to new species, open to alien races, and eager to eat candy. He accepted Xingar, as did his family.

Then one night, Xingar came to the house unannounced. At first it was confused pleasantries, then the chaos erupted.

Elijah could still smell the scent of charred flesh and hear his mother's panicked, pained screams when he closed his eyes.

That was only the first of many bad experiences with alien races, and a part of him simply decided alien species were bad, and needed to be watched as they were untrustworthy. And so, when he met Shuler, he took it out on the cat. Treated him as past experiences demanded alien species be treated.

_And he saved my life._

He saved Elijah's life at the cost of his own. It was selfless and brave, and everything he'd been so _certain_ the cat couldn't be.

_I'm sorry._

_I'll tell them you died well. I'll tell them you saved my life._

_I'll make sure they find your body, and give you a proper service._

_I'm sorry._

He should have been more vigilant. Shuler said he thought he smelled something; perhaps he smelled their attackers, but Elijah just waved it off, not trusting the cat's sense of smell. He'd been waffling back and forth between trusting Shuler and not trusting him, as past experiences dictated. And so, he'd neglected to notice the warning signs, writing it off as exhaustion for the both of them.

When Shuler first sprung at him, he thought the cat was going to attack him. He'd been reaching for his own plasma rifle.

Regret twisted heavily in his gut.

_I'm sorry._

Shuler didn't lunge at him to attack him; he pushed him out of the way and took the shot meant for Elijah. Then he fell from the cliff with a quick, stunned, _terrified_ gaze.

_He looked scared._

But of course he looked terrified; he was not only hurt, but plunging to his death. He must have had a moment of clarity, a moment to realize exactly what the lack of gravity meant. Which meant it didn't happen quickly enough; he knew what was coming, and that, perhaps, made it worse.

_I'm sorry._

A door opened somewhere ahead of him. The hinges moved with a loud clang, and footsteps entered the room. Elijah curled in on himself a little more, making himself look less threatening than he really was. His attackers took his weapons, even his concealed blade he kept purely for emergencies, but he could still fight if given the chance. If they underestimated him first, that would only help him.

"Is he awake?"

The voice was an odd, disjointed rumble of sounds. Not any human language, but a langue he understood nevertheless, thanks to his neural implant, which instantly translated any known languages, no matter how alien. While it allowed him to understand the language, it did not let him speak it, as that required careful use of his tongue and roof of his mouth.

_They think I'm asleep..._

Well, he could play along.

He carefully and slowly relaxed his posture as the footsteps drew nearer. He was already leaning against the wall, as it took the pressure off his chained hands. His head was tilted against the rough blocks.

"It looks like it," said another voice in that strange language as the footfalls stopped in front of him. "Shall I wake him?"

Elijah's muscles tensed ever so slightly in preparation for an attack, but no attack ever came. The response to the question must have been silent.

"Perhaps you hit him too hard," the first voice offered.

"If so, he is weak," the second replied with a derisive snort; Elijah could tell that in any language. "If you hadn't hit the cat, we would have our target."

Elijah's spine stiffened. They were after Shuler?

It made sense, he supposed. They were aiming at Elijah; they meant to shoot him instead, but Shuler took the hit and disappeared over the cliff. The only remaining option for their attackers was to take the surviving member, though why they would want him or Shuler was beyond him at the moment. His head throbbed too much to truly think about it.

"That [ _unrecognized_ ] better be alive. I want to kill him myself," the first said angrily.

_Do they know Shuler? Did he know them?_

"If you want to climb down the cliff, feel free to search for the body," the second snorted. "Is that truly the cat you were so afraid of?"

"I wasn't afraid - only cautious. [ _Unrecognized_.]"

Elijah's mind raced, making his head throb all the more. He shoved the thoughts aside; he could worry about it later, once he was back on the ship. Right now he needed to focus on finding a way out of this mess. Shuler died so that he could live; he needed to make that sacrifice count. He needed to get out of here, or last long enough for the crew to find him. They were coming for him; he was sure of it. They had to be.

"Wake him," the first finally sighed after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "Let's see what makes him so special the [ _unrecognized_ ] saved him."

Elijah tensed, ready for the attack he knew would be coming. When the footsteps inched closer to him, he swung out with his foot, uncurling his body as he twisted his wrists painfully, attempting to tug his left wrist free of the chains, since it was the one on top of his right wrist, and it could move the most. His foot connected with the body, knocking them back. There was a snarl and a second later, pain.

Severe, agonizing pain as volts of electricity shot through him.

He shrank back, muscles twitching as he struggled to regain his breath.

"That wasn't a smart move," one of them said, but he couldn't differentiate between them right now. "Let's find out what makes you so special, shall we?"

And then the pain came again, the end of _something_ slipping easily against his ribs, electricity shooting through him. His back arched automatically, pain rippling through him, muscles twitching violently as the thing was pulled away from him, allowing him a moment to breathe again.

"You're tougher than you look, I'll give you that."

Footsteps walked around him in a half circle, pacing as Elijah lay there shuddering with each breath. With each step he could feel the prod getting closer.

"Maybe that's what he found special? He did give his life for yours... [ _unrecognized_ ]."

Elijah's fingers twitched numbly; everything was numb. Numb and tingling and painful.

The prod returned to his side; the footsteps told him it would be happening before it touched him, but it did little to prepare him for the new onslaught of pain.

"It doesn't matter; we'll get our answer one way or another."


	5. Failure

_ Chapter Five: Failure _

"Take the shot," Quinton said sharply. "Take the shot!"

Through the scope, Dante watched as their target, Victor Arnell, held the blade to Quinton's unprotected neck. It was hard to realize what happened in the past few minutes; it happened so quickly. One minute, Quinton was easily dragging Arnell to the back pathway, and the next, Arnell twisted ruthlessly in his grip, snapping Quinton's wrist with a sound heard over the comm device, and the next second, a knife was held to Quinton's throat.

"I guarantee you I can slice his throat before you fire your shot," Arnell said lowly, in his deep, baritone voice - slippery as a snake, deep as a trombone. "Go ahead and shoot, but I'm taking him with me."

"Shoot him!" Quinton snapped, struggling. Arnell's grip tightened; through the scope, blood appeared as the blade began to slowly pierce skin.

Dante gritted his teeth painfully, growling under his breath.

Behind him, Mikel moved. "What should we do?"

"Get your asses down there," Dante snapped, not even sparing them a glance. "You get down there and you get him out of there, do you hear me?"

"On it," Mikel said with his clipped accent.

Movement behind him assured him that Mikel and Connor left; they would enter the village without the proper attire, which was against regulations, but it was a necessity. Quinton's life was at stake, as was the capture of their target. He could get away.

 _Don't draw unnecessary attention to yourselves,_ protocol dictated. _Dress properly; behave properly. No civilian casualties._

There wasn't time to be sneaky, though; there wasn't time to find Mikel and Connor the appropriate attire and get them to slip into the village unnoticed. In that amount of time, Arnell could draw the blade across Quinton's throat, or drag him off to some remote location.

Dante kept his scope focused on his partner and their target, watching the blood slowly trickle from the superficial wound. His teeth clenched again as his finger twitched along the trigger, ready to fire at a moment's notice. He might miss, though; he could hit Quinton since Arnell was using him as a human shield, his head just barely visible over Quinton's shoulder.

He could shoot Quinton accidentally; he was a trained sniper, but he couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk killing his partner, his crew member. Not to mention the fact he didn't doubt that, as Arnell went down, he'd bring that blade across Quinton's throat, effectively ending his life as well.

"Shoot him!" Quinton snapped again.

"Do it and he dies," Arnell said plainly, lips twisting into a smile as he seemingly looked right at Dante. "I see the glare from your scope, Sniper. I'm taking your little friend with me, and we're leaving. If you try to follow me, I will kill him. Understood?"

"Don't listen to him," Quinton said, and then released a muffled grunt of pain as Arnell slammed the palm of his hand across his broken wrist.

"Listen to me if you want your little friend to live," Arnell said, no hesitation or tremor in his voice. He wasn't lying; he would and could easily kill Quinton, and he would not bat an eye while doing so. He'd done it before; it was why they were after him. It was they the Intergalactic Foundation wanted him captured and brought to justice.

He was a killer, and he would not hesitate in ending Quinton's life.

He would not go down without taking someone else with him, either.

"Who are you speaking to, hmm? I suppose I have a bounty on my head, is that it? The Council and Foundation, I take it?"

Arnell's free hand gripped Quinton's injured wrist, eliciting a pained gasp from his captive. Laughing, Arnell brought his hand up, satisfied Quinton would keep still for the time being, and easily plucked the device from his ear, sticking it instead into his own.

"Tell me, Sniper - who sent you? Am I correct?"

"Don't answer him," Quinton said painfully.

A muscle jumped in Dante's jaw as his teeth clenched even more.

_Hurry up, Mikel. I don't like where this is going._

He hated this entire situation.

"I suggest you answer me," Arnell said. "I don't like to be kept waiting, Sniper. Not answering me will have deadly consequences."

Dante growled under his breath, but said nothing in response to the deadly fugitive.

_It's almost like he knew we were coming._

_Where are you guys? You need to hurry._

He refused to move his scope away from Arnell and Quinton to see if Mikel and Connor had entered the village yet; looking away could mean he missed something vital, and Arnell already said he saw the glint off Dante's scope. If he shifted his focus elsewhere, there was no telling what Arnell might do once he realized he was no longer being watched. Quinton's life could be forfeit.

_How did everything go so wrong?_

They should have waited for back-up, but there was little time. Victor Arnell was known for being elusive, spending very little time on any given planet, let alone one location on said planet. They had a plan of action, and they followed through with it. It looked like Quinton managed to knock Arnell out, unless Arnell had fallen with the blow, reducing the impact. If that was the case, he would have known they were here, searching for him; he would have known Quinton was coming up behind him.

Dante watched him carefully through his scope as Quinton edged up behind the man, and he showed no signs of simply hearing Quinton's approach. The only alternative was he'd been told in advance they were coming, that Quinton would be attacking him, and at the exact moment it happened, he fell with the blow, and then twisted when it was time to attack.

_How did he know?_

First the attack in space, now thisâ€¦

It left a heavy pit in Dante's stomach, and he wanted - _needed_ \- answers.

First, though, he needed Quinton returned to the _Saurian_ , intact.

"I'm not hearing an answer," Arnell said with a low drawl to his voice. "I'm not a very patient man; I suggest you answer me. Now, or I'll kill your little friend. What is your name, Sniper?"

"Dante," he breathed into the comm device, swallowing thickly as he watched Arnell's fingers twitch along the handle of the blade. "My name is Dante."

"Ah, he speaks," Arnell drawled with a smirk. "Dante what?"

He remained silent, lips pursing.

"See â€“ you think you have a choice in answering me, but you are wrong," Arnell said. "I grow tired of this waiting game. Answer me or I will kill him."

The blade shifted slightly; more blood slid free.

"Nitros," Dante said through clenched teeth. "Dante Nitros."

"See, was that so hard?"

"Dante, don't listen to him, just shoot him!" Quinton snapped. "Take the shot!"

_I might hit you..._

_He might still kill you..._

"Ah-ah, the adults are talking," Arnell said, hand slamming down once more on Quinton's broken wrist, eliciting a pained gasp from him. "Hush now. Mr. Nitros, do tell me - who sent you? Was I correct in my assumptions?"

_Where are you guys?_

"I tire of this waiting game, Nitros. Do answer me. Was I correct?"

How could he answer that question? He couldn't give his crew away; but then he wouldn't truly be giving up their names, would he? Arnell already knew who sent him; he just wanted confirmation. He knew nothing of the _Saurian_ or the crew. Nothing about Captain Kane or any of the crew members.

"Yes," he said quietly, mostly because he noticed the slightest change in the way Arnell held the blade to Quinton's throat. At the angle it was now, it was such an easy slice to make, if he chose to do so. Quinton's Adam's apple bobbed against the edge of the blade, drawing a little more blood. Still superficial, though; not lethal.

Not yet.

"Dante, what are you doing?" Quinton growled.

Arnell laughed, dragging Quinton back a few steps, slowly. Dante kept his scope trained on them the entire time, growling under his breath.

"I figured it was them," Arnell said. "Sent you to capture me, did they? Did they think I would go down easily? Is that why they only sent the two of you after me?"

Dante remained silent.

"Or maybe there's not just the two of you; perhaps you have back-up on the way, is that it?" Arnell asked thoughtfully. "It would explain your hesitation. You're stalling for time."

_Fuck, how does he know?_

_Hurry the hell up, guys!_

"I don't have time for your games, Nitros," Arnell said with a sigh. "I'll be leaving now; I'm taking your friend with me. If I'm followed, I'll kill him. If I'm not... you'll get him back, eventually."

_You're not taking him anywhere._

Dante remained silent, however; nothing he said would help. He chanced a quick glance away from Arnell and Quinton, needing to see how closer the others were to their location. He caught sight of them about thirty seconds away, nearly there.

"Since you've decided to look elsewhere, I take it your friend isn't that important, and your back-up is nearly upon me," Arnell said, causing Dante's spine to stiffen as his scope shot back toward the two of them. "I suppose I should end this quickly, then. Nice talking with you, Nitros. Maybe we'll do it again sometime."

"No, wait-" Dante started, staring through the scope.

The blade itself made no noise as it slid easily across and through the unprotected flesh of Quinton's throat. Quinton, however, was another story entirely.

As soon as the blade slid through, severing his jugular, a burst of blood spilt from the newly formed wound in quick little bursts, in rhythm with Quinton's heartbeat. With each beat, more blood pulsated out. As the jugular was severed, he released this strange, choking sound which was quickly caught off; all Dante could hear now were his wheezing attempts at breaths, but the sliced throat left him unable to draw in the appropriate amount of air, and blood was quickly spilling from the wound.

"No!" he shouted, too late.

All he could do was stare through the scope as Quinton went to his knees, released by Arnell. His hands came up his throat, attempting to stop the bleeding and allow him to breathe again. Blood squished through his fingers.

_Arnell._

There was nothing he could do for Quinton from here; he'd have to hope Mikel and Connor got to him in time and could do something, though a nagging voice in the back of his head told him there was little they could actually do for him. Dante couldn't do anything for Quinton, but he could stop Arnell from escaping.

As soon as he sliced Quinton's throat and released him, Arnell turned and began running toward a hut, probably hoping to disappear behind it and down the path leading away from Dante. Dante quickly slid his scope over and focused on Arnell's retreating form.

_He probably thinks I'll be too busy worrying about Quinton..._

He was partially right; Dante was worried, and knew deep down there was nothing that could be done. There was no way to help Quinton; no way to save him in time. Perhaps if they were already on the _Saurian..._ but out here...

He shoved the thought from his mind. He was worried about Quinton, and dreading the loss of his fellow crew member, but he was still capable of pulling the trigger and taking down Arnell.

He deserved it.

Dante wouldn't let him get away with doing this to Quinton.

_I'll avenge you._

It was the least he could do.

He trained his scope on Arnell's retreating form, and fired before he could give it a second thought. They were supposed to bring in their targets _alive_ , but there was no way Arnell would be leaving this planet alive. Not after what he did.

The energy drained from Dante as he fired, seeking fuel from his anger and despair, and managed to hit Arnell squarely on the back of his right shoulder as he attempted to round a corner sharply. He staggered and slammed into the wall of the hut, winded and wounded, and Dante lined up another shot.

Just as he was about to fire again and end Arnell's life, Mikel passed in front of his scope and he quickly removed his finger from the trigger, sucking in a sharp breath. The butt of Mikel's plasma rifle slammed solidly into Arnell's jaw, sending him to the ground. As Arnell twisted, attempting to get back to his feet even as he _laughed_ , Mikel slammed the butt of his gun back down onto his head, rendering him unconscious, finally.

And then it was over.

The chaos was over; Arnell was captured.

Dante shifted his scope's view.

Connor stood over the too-still form of Quinton. The ground around him was a deep red-brown color; it stained his hands, skin, and clothing, too. Connor stared down at Quinton for a long moment, before he finally crouched, blocking Dante's complete view of Quinton. All he could see now were his legs, entirely too still.

Connor reached for Quinton, but his back was to Dante and he couldn't make out all the details. Perhaps that was for the best. A moment later, Connor stood, shaking his head, and glanced over his shoulder at Mikel, who stood over Arnell's downed form.

Dante closed his eyes, swallowing thickly.

_He's dead._

Arnell was captured, but Quinton was dead.

He died quickly, Dante knew, but it would have felt like an eternity to Quinton

_I'm so sorry..._

It was all his fault. He should have taken the shot, like Quinton kept telling him to do. Instead, he hesitated; he hesitated because that was his friend down there, his partner and fellow crew member, and now he was dead. Dead because Dante hesitated.

Dante's fingers, numb from shock, released his grip on his weapon. It fell from his hands, the prongs sliding painfully out of his skin so the weapon could land on the ground with a dull thud. The pain was nothing to him, though; all he could focus on at the moment was the fact he failed. He failed his friend; he failed Quinton.

He hesitated, and now Quinton was dead.

xXx

Captain Kane sighed heavily, dragging a hand across his face as he filled out the last of his report. Quinton Sanders' death was a tragedy, and the paperwork would never do him justice. He was a loyal crew member, brave until the end. Reducing him to a bunch of words on a screen seemed wrong; he was more than that. To the Council, though, it didn't matter. He died in the line of duty and would be honored for doing so, but beyond that... as long as the fugitive was captured...

They had direct orders to return immediately, which meant they would need to leave this planet within the hour. Two of the crew were still missing, and now one was dead. Exhaustion weighed heavily in Kane's bones, leaving him sitting uncomfortably on his bed in his quarters, secluded from the crew. They were mourning in their own way; Athena had been the first to inform him of the tragedy, after Quinton's life signs flickered to nothing.

They'd brought his body back to the ship; it was in the medical bay, getting prepped for transport. Dr. Alix Kush would make sure his body got the proper treatment it deserved; he would clean him, and dress him in the proper attire, instead of those clothes he'd been wearing when attempting to infiltrate the village.

Shuler and Elijah had an hour to return to the ship; in an hour, they would be leaving with or without them. As the captain, it was the call he had to make; the mission needed to come first, and he had direct orders to return to base ASAP. That meant leaving his two missing crew members behind, and while they would certainly be returning for them within the week, after delivering Victor Arnell and holding the ceremony for Quinton Sanders, it didn't settle well in his stomach to leave his people behind. His crew were his family; they were loyal to him, counted on him to make the right decision. While he knew Shuler and Elijah would understand that the mission came first, that did not mean they would appreciate being left behind. It could leave the morale of the crew dying away, which was never good for any ship. It could leave their loyalty to him faltering, which was dangerous.

 _They understand as much as I do that the mission must come first,_ he told himself with yet another sigh.

It was already a long, stressful day, and daylight had just begun roughly three hours prior. They would be leaving in an hour, and they would not be returning for at least four days, a week at most. That meant that if Shuler and Elijah didn't turn up by the time they departed, they would be stuck here without supplies or back-up, or anything. For days.

_They will be fine. They are resilient._

If they returned to the landing site to find the _Saurian_ missing, they would know to wait there until they returned for them; they had to know they would return as soon as they could.

That did not make this any easier, though.

He hated leaving members of his crew behind; it felt like betrayal.

_They would not leave me behind._

_And yet, it is the call I must make._

He did not truly have a choice here. His hands were tied; his orders were clear.

_I am sorry._

This entire mission had gone wrong from the start. First the attack in space, about which he still needed answers, and then Shuler and Elijah's disappearance, and now Quinton's death...

"Captain, sorry to disturb you, but Admiral Oreen wishes to speak with you via comm channel 2," came Kikira's smooth voice.

Kane took in a slow breath before he stood from his bed. "Very well, Kikira. I will take it in my quarters."

"Yes, Captain."

Kane walked the distance across the unreasonably spacious room - he did not need so much space, after all - and tapped the screen along the wall. It lit up with his thumb print and flickered to life. As he adjusted it to channel 2, an image appeared â€“ blue-tinted, but there nevertheless, and Admiral Oreen blinked back at him from their base back on Quantix 4.

Admiral Oreen was not a happy woman; she never smiled, and always spoke calmly and precisely. She was not to be trifled with, and if she was calling him, he knew it could not be good.

He drew in a breath, forcing a smile as inclined his head in greeting. "Admiral Oreen, so nice to see you."

"And you as well," Oreen said, the words rolling automatically off her tongue, as it was a customary greeting. Her dark eyes looked him over closely, scrutinizing, calculating. Kane fought the urge to shift under her firm gaze. "I heard you acquired your target, Victor Arnell. I expect you will be arriving here shortly."

It was not a question, so he did not bother responding.

"I see," she said after a brief pause. "Well, that is good. Victor Arnell is a dangerous man, and I heard he even took the life of one of your crew. Is that true, Captain?"

Kane inhaled slowly, and when he spoke, his voice was calm and even. "Yes, Admiral, that is correct. Quinton Sanders gave his life in the fight today; he will be missed."

"I mourn with you," Oreen said with a nod. "Dying in battle is a good death, though I doubt it brings much comfort. We will prep for the ceremony when you arrive."

Kane inclined his head slightly. "Thank you, Admiral."

"We have much to discuss once you return, Captain."

"Very well. Has the Council looked into my worries? About the cloaking technology, and the ships which attacked the _Saurian_?"

"We are looking into it as we speak," Oreen said with a small nod. "We should have answers when you arrive. Safe travels, Captain."

A dismissal if he'd ever heard one.

He nodded slightly and smiled again. "And to you as well."

Oreen blinked at him and the channel cut out, the screen going dark.

Kane rolled back on his heels and drew in a slow, steady breath.


	6. Breath of Freedom

_Chapter Six: Breath of Freedom_

Consciousness returned slowly for Shuler; everything ached. Pain was his first thought, confusion his second. He lay awkwardly in a small cave, darkness surrounding him save for the mouth of the cave, where daylight could be seen. He had a vague memory of dragging his throbbing body through the cave's mouth; the dried blood trail reminded him of this. He lifted his head from his right arm and winced as sharp pain hammered behind his eyes, leaving him dropping his head back down as though it were dead weight. A groan escaped his lips and he mentally took stock of his injuries.

He hit his head; it throbbed sharply, and his memory was hazy at best. Thinking hurt. He didn't think he had broken bones, but he definitely had bruised ribs at the very least. Maybe even a fracture or two. And what else...

He brought his left hand up and dragged it down his side, finding crusty, dried blood knotting his fur. Confusion clouded his mind momentarily, mixing with the pain, before a memory surfaced through the haze.

_I was shot._

A quick shot, a downward tug, and then a dark haze. It all happened so fast. Why was he shot? He was usually so aware of his surroundings...

_I almost drowned..._

He remembered that much; he remembered clawing for the surface, desperate for air. And then Elijah, pulling him toward the river's edge.

_Elijah._

Elijah was with him when he was shot; he shoved Elijah out of the way, was hit, and then... fell.

_I survived...?_

He couldn't remember how he survived, or even really how he came to be in a cave. Why a cave? Where was he? Why couldn't he remember?

Thinking about it too much left his head throbbing all the more. Groaning, he allowed his eyes to fall closed.

For a moment, he lay there, simply breathing.

Then he forced himself into a sitting position, and twisted himself so he could lean his head down and attempt to lick at the crusted fur of his side. Since he was not human, and shared more genetics with a 'cat' than a human, he was naturally far more flexible, and the feel of his slightly rough tongue running across his dirty fur actually soothed him. The pain slowly ebbed away, save for the pain in his head.

The good thing about plasma shots, he reflected, was that there were no actual bullets. There was nothing left behind inside of him to dig out; it was just an open wound, but didn't appear too severe. It hurt, and he did lose a decent amount of blood, but it could have been so much worse. As it was, it was more of a glancing blow, his momentum from shoving Elijah aside removing him from the center of the shot. His fur was still singed and his flesh was still burned, though.

The coppery taste of blood left his head throbbing a little more. He ate meat; raw meat. He was a carnivore, and he did enjoy the thrill of actually _hunting_. At least, he did in his younger days. But there was a difference in tasting the blood of his prey and tasting his own blood as he cleaned a wound.

It left him nauseated, but he could not tell if it was simply from licking up his own blood or the fact he ached all over, and his head throbbed sharply. Perhaps it didn't matter; he had to push through it anyway. He didn't have time to hesitate; he needed to retrace his steps and find Elijah.

For all he knew, though, Elijah was dead.

 _Still need to find him,_ he thought with a grimace.

Even if he was dead, he needed to at least find his body and bring him back to the _Saurian_. He deserved at least that much.

_He came after me and saved me from drowning. I need to at least find his body._

He couldn't believe he was going to look for his nemesis, of all people; Elijah hated him. Or, at least, he thought he did before this scouting mission... Now, he honestly wasn't so sure. Would Elijah have come looking for him if he truly hated him? It left Shuler awash in a sea of doubt; it mingled with the haze of pain, just adding to his confusion.

Outside the cave, it was bright; the days here were long, but he knew he'd been unconscious for at least a few hours. The sun had barely moved across the sky, though. His armor was cracked and damaged, and he shrugged it off; it would do him no good how it was, anyway. Once it hit the ground, kicking disturbed dirt into the air, he rolled his shoulders and sighed. Moving became slightly easier.

 _Find Elijah, get him back to the_ Saurian _._

That was the plan, and Shuler would make sure it came to fruition.

He would not fail.

He followed the lingering scent of blood mingling with the scent of the greenery around him, along with the trail of dried blood, alongside his scuffle marks where he dragged himself in the direction of the cave. Instinct must have kicked in after he fell, he decided; he knew he needed to get out of sight and needed to rest, needed a safe place to stay while his body began its natural, fast healing process.

His instructors were in awe at his quick healing, but in reality, cats did heal faster than humans, or so he was told. A cat could get into a fight one day, and be fine the next; all they needed was a bit of rest, and a place to lick their wounds, so to speak. For Shuler, it was no different; he healed quickly, and had a naturally strong immune system. All very beneficial in life or death situations such as this one.

He traveled for a time, pushing through the greenery partially trampled hours ago when he fled from the scene; eventually, he staggered through the brush and in front of him stood the cliffside from which he fell. It was steep, and rocky; he had a vague memory of a rock jabbing painfully against his ribs, and now he rubbed the spot tenderly.

_How did I survive this?_

He knew he healed faster, and thus was a bit tougher with his thick fur and stronger immune system, but that did not mean he could easily survive being shot and falling from this height. Looking up at the ridgeline now, it was hard to believe he fell from there and was still standing. In pain, but still standing.

_Don't worry about it; find Elijah now._

Those people were shooting at Elijah; Shuler pushed them out of the way. What if Elijah was already dead?

_Doubtful, or they would have shot both of us at the same time, I would think. If they could get their hands on one gun, they could get their hands on two. After the first shot, one of us would have scrambled; and I have 'cat' features, so they must have known I was more agile than him. They wanted one of us alive._

It was the only thing that made sense to him.

So, Elijah was alive, and being held captive somewhere. But why?

_Does this have something to do with the space attack?_

He couldn't think about it right now.

All of his energy needed to be focused on climbing up the cliffside; he needed to return to the scene of his shooting, and find Elijah.

xXx

Absolutely everything hurt; Elijah still felt residual tremors ripping through his body occasionally, remnants from the electricity. His fingers kept twitching sporadically, and it felt like his lungs refused to expand properly. Breathing hurt, his gasps raw and jagged, broken glass scraping along his throat.

He was alone for the time being, but that was only a small blessing. The pain was still intense, throbbing incessantly through every muscle in his body, leaving limbs twitching and jerking, and leaving muscles to spasm even though there was no longer and electricity coursing through him. Everything ached.

_Why am I still alive?_

His captors had given him no clue as to why they still kept him alive. They hinted at wanting to have killed him instead of Shuler, and they had apparently met Shuler in the past, but that was all Elijah gleaned from their conversation. The electricity interfered with his neural language implant, though; after a time, he could no longer understand them. They spoke in this strange, fractured entanglement of sounds, and it left him wincing at half the noises they made.

He could no longer understand them, which left him... uneasy. He would not use the term frightened, but he did hate that he could no longer hear what they were going to do to him next. He couldn't understand them anymore, and he absolutely hated it.

That still left the nagging question: _Why am I still alive?_

They tortured him for a time, and then left him alone. Left him alive.

There would be more torture in the future, he was certain, but now he could no longer understand them, so how could he answer any of their questions?

Why keep him alive, when they destroyed the electric impulses of his neural implant?

_I just don't understand..._

_Oh, suck it up,_ a part of him whispered, sounding oddly like Shuler. _They're not done with you yet. Deal with it, and get out of here._

 _But I don't know how..._ he thought tiredly.

_So figure it out. You're a big boy; come up with a plan._

He sighed tiredly, and then winced, for even that was painful.

Hopefully they'd give him decent time to rest, and then he could think of a way to escape.

Hopefully.

But all-too-soon the heavy door swung open and footsteps approached him. Hands grabbed at his arms and hauled him to his feet. Chains rattled; he was moved from the wall, and dragged across the floor, limbs too heavy and muscles too tired and sore for him to work properly on his own. He remained limp, attempting to reserve what little energy he still had, and hoped that when the time came, it would be enough.

Their language was a fractured, broken squeal. No, that wasn't right. It was grunts, but high-pitched, so like a squeal but rougher. Strange, broken sounds which hurt his ears, and he missed his neural translator. His headache worsened, and he could not stop the groan from escaping his lips as they rounded a corner, chained wrists knocking against the edge of cold, damp walls.

The back of his head was hit sharply, and for a moment his mind went dark. When it cleared and he retained his clarity, he could hear the whispers of wind and the chirping of birds, and the scuff of dirt beneath his boots as they slid across the ground. They were no longer indoors; where were they taking him, and why?

_This can't be good. Why are they moving me?_

They'd left him chained for a time, and tortured him. For what purpose?

"Where are you taking me?" he breathed, though he knew they wouldn't answer him. He doubted they even understood him, as they had not answered him before; if they had a neural implant which allowed them to understand him, they certainly didn't show it. They showed no desire to answer him other than cause further discomfort; the smack to the back of the head wasn't entirely unexpected, but that did little to lessen the pain.

They spoke again in their strange language, and he had no hope of understanding them.

As they trudged along, with him being dragged between them, his ankles and arms still bound, he attempted to count their steps. Perhaps if he could count how long they walked, if he escaped, he could make his way back to where he was kept. It wasn't an ideal place to run to, of course, but it was the only landmark he would be able to find; it was either that or run into the forest around them, and he'd get lost that way. If he found a building, perhaps inside he would find a map of some sort, or a radio. He could get in contact with his crew. Surely these two weren't out here completely alone; they had to have had contact with someone.

At the very least, they had his weapons stashed somewhere.

He could at least arm himself.

First, he just needed to get free, which was easier said than done.

These chains had not loosened any in the walk out here. His muscles had not strengthened any, either. He was still so incredibly sore and stiff, and everything ached. Nevertheless, he would have to endure through the pain if he wanted to escape.

_Shuler died so I could live. I have to do this. I have to live._

He couldn't let his sacrifice be for nothing.

_I can do this. I have to._

He twisted his arms and wrists carefully yet consistently, hoping his attackers wouldn't notice. Thankfully, they seemed to be engrossed in a conversation. While he couldn't understand them, it seemed to be growing rather heated, with their inflections growing more harsh and loud.

The birds around them stopped chirping; he could hear them hurry away from the raised voices.

 _Wish I could join you,_ he thought sourly, twisting his wrists more. The chains cut into his skin, and he could feel blood leak from the cuts, but he persevered, biting down hard on his lower lip.

He could almost slip his left wrist free, if it weren't for his pinky. It just wasn't quite enough space; he'd have to bend it to get it out, which would hurt like hell, but he'd get free.

He shifted his wrists so the fingers of his right hand were grasping his left pinky, and then, steeling himself, he twisted sharply. The snap of his pinky was inaudible compared to their argument, thankfully, and the bend of his hand was just right for him to slip it out of the chains now. Blood spilled into his mouth from where he bit so sharply into his lip, and the metallic taste left him cringing. Exhaling shallowly, he carefully freed both wrists, dropped the chains, and then tore the blindfold from his eyes before blindly reaching for his attackers.

By the time they realized his hands were free, it was too late.

His attackers weren't human, though they were humanoid, as most creatures in the galaxy were. Evolution had decided, quite unanimously, that the humanoid shape was the best way for a species to survive, and thus most species had taken that shape on any given planet, unless the planet was only covered in water or something. Shuler, for example, was a cat species, but was humanoid nevertheless. Humans descended from apes, Shuler from a cat, and Elijah's attackers from... some kind of reptile, from the looks of it.

Their skin was thick and scaly, like an alligator or crocodile, and their mouths were elongated and sharp, with fangs protruded from curved lips which didn't quite cover their mouths entirely. Their arms were hunched and gave way to sharp claws; Elijah was uncertain as to how he wasn't constantly stabbed by those sharp points. Each 'hand' held three talons. They wore dark robes which were nearly the color of their scaled skin, and their eyes, amber red in color, were narrowed sharply onto Elijah, unblinking and savage as clawed talons raised.

_Oh, shit._

Elijah tried to back up even as he lifted a hand, though he knew those talons would slice right through his skin, but his legs remained bound, and he tripped, quickly falling onto his rear. His attackers followed and he closed his eyes, preparing for the end.

_Sorry, Shuler._

The pain was quick and expected, and blood ran freely from the open wounds, but it wasn't as much as he thought it'd be. He opened his eyes when there was no forthcoming attack afterward, and found that only one of them had struck him, and his attacker was now distracted. One of them had been tackled prior to hitting him, and lay scrambling on the ground with-

Numbness flooded through him.

_It can't be._

The second attacker, the one who managed to hit him, snarled and ignored Elijah for the time being, moving to help his partner. Elijah shoved the invading shock and numbness away, and reached for said attacker. He managed to just barely wrap the fingers of his uninjured hand around their leg and jerk, causing them to stagger back toward him, giving his savior enough time to continue to tussle with the first attacker.

The other rounded on him with a snarl, sharp fangs bared.

Their words were lost in their language, and then fierce jaws were snapping at him as they lunged at him. Elijah pulled back sharply, dragging his bound knees up to jam them into his attacker's chest, shoving them away abruptly.

He wasn't entirely sure what happened next; one second he was fighting for his life, and sharp teeth buried deeply into the flesh of his arm, but thankfully it wasn't his neck which was the intended target; and then the next second, his attacker was gone, shoved away, and a new face entered the picture, copper green eyes wide as a clawed hand grabbed his bloody arm and yanked him to his feet, dragging him along even though none of this should have been possible. Perhaps this was a dream; perhaps he died. Perhaps he was eaten, and none of this was real.

"You're dead," he found himself breathing, wincing painfully as those fingers curled into wounded flesh.

"I don't wanna hear anything from you right now," Shuler snapped, dragging him unceremoniously through the undergrowth, "unless it's 'thank you, you beautiful bastard.' Are we clear?"

It might have been the pain, or the blood loss, or the fact he was probably dead and none of this was real, but Elijah threw his head back and laughed.


	7. We Go Together

_Chapter Seven: We Go Together_

"How did you find me? How are you alive?"

Elijah had many questions, and while speaking hurt, and his mouth was dry and his body ached, he couldn't help but ask them as Shuler dragged him through the underbrush.

"I said be quiet," Shuler said.

Elijah tried, because he knew stealth was their friend, but they were already making too much noise with how much he was being dragged. "Free me," he said.

"Too much time," Shuler grunted.

"And dragging me is faster?" he asked incredulously. "How did you find me? How are you alive?"

"You're a broken record."

"Free me."

Shuler sighed heavily, and stopped dragging him. The sudden loss of tugging left him collapsing onto the dirt ground, and he barely managed to catch himself. His landing was painful and would have been worse if Shuler didn't partially catch him. Red-brown fur brushed softly against his face as he blinked.

"Did you break your hand?" Shuler asked. "Honestly, the damage you do to yourself..."

He began working on the chains wrapped around Elijah's legs and Elijah rolled his eyes as the fur moved away from him, and he sat up properly, more balanced now. "My pinky was in the way."

"So you broke it."

"I didn't have a lot of options."

Shuler stilled suddenly, fingers pausing along the chains as his ears twitched along his head. "They're coming. They don't have guns with them, that I saw, but they're still dangerous and you're not free. All I have are daggers." His fingers wrapped around the chains again. "They don't have the best vision during the night, and their bodies fall into a sleep-like trance during the chill night brings, so our best bet is to wait them out for the next two hours."

Two hours until sundown. They'd been on this planet a long time; a day and night cycle. And now back to night, almost. Was the _Saurian_ still here? Was anyone looking for them? Surely they were. They wouldn't just leave them behind, right?

"They were targeting you," Elijah remembered.

Shuler grimaced. "Yeah. I know."

The chains on his legs shifted downward. Elijah winced but moved his legs, attempting to pull them free as Shuler yanked the chains down again. Slowly but surely they began to come loose, one painful inch at a time.

"Why?"

"It's a long story. If we live, I'll tell you."

A dagger was shoved into his hands. The blade was a reflective silver color, a light-weight steel, sharp and lethal.

"Take Helios," Shuler said.

_Right. Almost forgot he named his blades._

"Thanks," he murmured. "What about you?"

"I have Calypso," Shuler said, holding up his other dagger, darker gray in color, more jagged in shape, made for a rougher cut. The smile the cat tossed him was grim. "Almost done here, I think."

The chains shifted further. Elijah could taste freedom.

His fingers wrapped around the hilt of Helios, his nails digging softly into the dirt beneath him as he did so.

A snarl sounded from just behind Shuler. Elijah's gaze shifted over the cat's shoulder, at the scaly face with the bared teeth already lunging at him. He opened his mouth to shout a warning but already Shuler was spinning, and in the next instant, Calypso was buried deep within that scaly neck, despite the thickness of the scales. The hilt twisted and tore free, tearing just as much on the way out as it did on the way in due to the jagged nature of the blade, and the attacker released a choked, dying gasp before being shoved away by Shuler, to land with a harmless thud a few feet away.

One attacker down, one to go, and the chains were finally gone.

Elijah was free.

He jumped to his feet and swayed, staggering briefly under his own weight for the first time. His first few steps were unsteady, his muscles sore, but he gave Shuler a quick nod and soon the two were jogging side-by-side, making their way through the trees, keeping a watchful eye out for their second attacker.

Helios was light in his grasp, and while he preferred a gun to a blade, he appreciated having a weapon.

They continued jogging for roughly twenty minutes before slowing as they approached a roaring river. Shuler hesitated along the edge, sniffing the air and listening, before he shook his head. "I don't think we're being followed, but I all I can smell is the river."

Elijah grimaced. "We're lost, aren't we? Where's the _Saurian_ from here?"

"South," Shuler said somewhat apologetically.

"Great."

Shuler shrugged, before wincing slightly. It was a hard expression to make out with his fur, but in that moment Elijah really took a moment to look him over, since he hadn't before. They didn't have time before, but now he took in the dried blood matting his fur, and the wound in his abdomen, along with his distinctive lack of armor which he wore prior to his fall.

"You're hurt," he said.

"Well, yeah," Shuler said, frowning. "Getting shot and falling tends to hurt, you know. Some doctor you are."

"How'd you survive?"

"I honestly don't remember. It's all kind of a big blur."

Elijah looked out over the water, at the white-tipped rapids. "You saved my life."

Shuler released a heavy breath. "Guess we're even."

Elijah looked around; they needed to cross the river, but there were no adequate crossing areas here, and neither of them seemed to be in any shape to swim across rapids at the moment. "Where do we go?"

The cat's nose twitched. "East. We need to get downwind."

He moved to lead the way, but then stopped suddenly, ears flinching back at a noise Elijah couldn't hear. Copper green eyes landed on him, narrowing.

"We have company."

Elijah's jaw clenched as he nodded tightly, fingers wrapped around the hilt of Helios.

He didn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary; the sound of the rapids drowned out everything else. He watched the trees and bushes carefully, though, aware that with the scaly skin, the remaining attacker might very well blend into the shadows granted by the setting sun. It would still be hours before nightfall, but sunset took hours on this planet, and left it in odd shadows for a time.

He saw nothing, but knew better at this point than to distrust Shuler's ears.

He never saw the attack coming, but rather felt the presence nearing him. He spun around in the same instant as Shuler, who had been looking in another direction, gaze watchful of their attacker, and they both rounded on their attacker as they jumped from the bushes with a plasma rifle aimed steady, a snarl on their inhuman lips.

They spat something in that language which grated against Elijah's eardrums, and Shuler bristled. "That's just rude," he muttered under his breath, ears flattening as he grasped Calypso tightly. "I don't go around insulting your mother."

Despite what Elijah said, it never appeared as though his attackers understood him, or if they did, they never showed it in the slightest. Could they understand Shuler? Did they have the neural implants to understand other languages? It was expensive, and used mainly with those involved on ships, who would be interacting with other races and thus would need to know other languages. Average citizens didn't have access to such technology.

The scaly man snapped something back, sharp teeth showing briefly. Could he understand them? He never let on that he could before. He kept the plasma rifle trained on them, but didn't fire; before, back at the cliffside, he fired instantly to try and kill Elijah, but Shuler took the shot. Now, their attacker hesitated.

Why?

Elijah's grip on Helios tightened. Every muscle in his fingers and hand ached, but he ignored the pain, focusing on the attacker's aim as they stepped toward them. It went back and forth between both of them, never just lingering on either of them, ready to shoot either of them, when before, Elijah was the one they wanted to kill and Shuler the one they wanted to capture.

Why the change now?

He listened to the inflection in the language.

Anger.

Fury.

Perhaps they wanted to capture Shuler for some reason Elijah didn't know, but now this attacker just wanted to kill him. But some part of him was still hesitating, in the background. And so he shouted in his language, waving his gun around.

_He lacks focus._

Elijah was a soldier; he knew all there was to know about _focus_. If one wasn't focused, they were a dead man. He trained with the Foundation's Militia for many years, before he decided life aboard the _Saurian_ would be simpler, and less violent. Merely a bounty hunting vessel, it would not see nearly as much action as a war vessel, nor would he be out on the frontlines as a soldier any longer. Instead, he'd just be a crew member, trained in combat, yes, but still a crew member on a ship full of other crew members.

He left the militia for something simpler.

_You failed. Let's not forget that part._

Left the militia, was kicked out - was there truly a difference? Either way, he was there no longer. Yet his instincts still remained, and in this moment, it was like riding a bike, to use an old phrase.

Everything in his gut, all of his instincts, screamed at him that his opponent was unbalanced and wrong; the slightest misstep could turn the battle in his favor, or could be his undoing. He took a step to the right, away from Shuler, putting some distance between himself and the cat. Shuler edged slightly to the left, seemingly sensing his plan without words, without even glancing at him, his gaze focused on their attacker.

More angry snarls from their attacker, directed at Shuler. Hunched posture hinted at an upcoming attack just seconds before the gun leveled and began firing. Since the two were further apart, their attacker had to pick a target; they chose Shuler, which left Elijah enough room to dart forward and lunge at the enemy with Helios. He shut down thoughts of fellow crew members, of comrades and bloodied fur; he focused on the task at hand and dodged the gun as it swung around to swat at him, easily ducking under it despite sore muscles aching in protest, and he sliced Helios through the flesh of the enemy's side, cutting through clothing but barely penetrating the thick skin provided by the scales.

Growling under his breath, panting with exertion, he twisted on his ankle and spun back around, lashing out once more with the light gray blade, and managed to get in another swipe before the attack stepped out of the way, smacking at him with his gun. The hot barrel of the weapon burned Elijah's wrist, leaving his grip on Helios faltering, but nevertheless his fingers clung to the hilt as he stepped back, then dashed forward, never letting his attacker aim that weapon at him.

The enemy swung at him with the gun; at the last second, Elijah ducked beneath the steaming barrel and plunged the blade deep within the flesh of the attacker's side, right where he'd scraped it before. He made sure to thrust the blade in deeply, aware of the thickness of the skin. He sank Helios in to the hilt, listening as the scaled man hissed and clawed at him. The claws scraped against his face, knocking him away; his fingers loosened around Helios, releasing his grip on the hilt, leaving the blade within the creature, and he toppled away and hit the ground, head throbbing painfully as his face burned with the open wounds.

He blinked and found himself looking up at the barrel of a gun already pointing down at him.

 _Well, shit_.

The scaled creature never had the chance to fire.

One second he was sneering down at Elijah, ready to pull the trigger.

The next, the tip of Calypso's jagged blade appeared from his left eye, and he gurgled and gasped as blood ran down his face, before the blade was yanked back through his head. The eye went with it, taken right through his skull, pierced on the dagger, and the body hit the ground with a harsh thud, resting in an untidy heap a few feet away from Elijah. He swallowed thickly, staring at the bloody, eye-less face, before another thud caught his attention.

"Shuler," he breathed, surging to his feet, sore muscles and pain be damned.

The cat was just behind the fallen enemy, on his knees, looking worse for wear. His shoulders shook with each breath, trembling with each labored effort. The blood on his fur was brighter and more prominent now; no longer dried and matted, but sticky and wet. Fresh. Had he been shot again?

Calypso dropped from his hands. The blade landed at an awkward angle due to the eyeball still attached to it, rolling awkwardly in the dirt. Shuler's frame shifted, beginning to topple.

Elijah knelt next to him just as his balance wavered completely, and managed to catch him and ease him to the ground so he did not hurt himself further.

"Easy," Elijah said. "Take it easy. Where does it hurt? You and your damn bloody fur."

Shuler snorted. "Not my fault..."

"Yeah? Then whose fault is it?" he asked, running his hands down through the fur, feeling for injuries. His fingers prodded a wound, but he deemed it to be an older one; probably the one which happened at the cliffside, back when he was first shot and toppled over the edge. That wasn't the cause of this fresh blood, nor Shuler's behavior now. "Hey, kitty cat, stay awake."

Shuler's eyes blinked open. "Haven't... slept in... a while..."

"Yeah, well, neither have I, but you don't hear me complaining about it."

There it was.

The fresh wound.

A new shot to Shuler's lower left side. Deeper than the previous one; a more direct hit. Deeper, and it seemed to be bleeding more. The fur around the area was singed, the skin burned, the wound itself raw and bleeding. It had to hurt like hell, Elijah knew.

He kept from prodding it.

Until Shuler's eyes closed again.

Then he tapped along the singed fur, and Shuler snarled, eyes popping open again.

"I need you awake," Elijah said simply. "I don't have a lot to use; how do you heal yourself, cat?"

Shuler blinked at him for a moment, long and slow, before he drew in a breath. "Cats... heal naturally... if given a chance..." Then a pause. "Also... tongue baths help..."

Elijah's nose wrinkled. "Well, I'm not licking you."

He did, however, take off his shirt and attempt to create a tourniquet of sorts, to the best of his ability; it wasn't much, but it was the best he could do at the time, and he certainly wasn't going to lick Shuler's wounds.

Nevertheless, he had to do something.

_You saved my life. Again._

Even wounded as he was, Shuler found the strength to deliver the killing blow and save Elijah's life once more, and Elijah wouldn't let him die for that.

They would both make it back to the _Saurian_.

xXx

The muscles in Athena's shoulders were tense and rigid, set since they left Erudad's atmosphere. That had been hours ago, the planet a mere speck in the distance; her muscles ached in protest at the rigid posture, but she could not allow herself to relax. She was not okay with this decision, but she could not bring herself to argue. The captain's plan was solid, and he was under orders himself; he could not disobey, just as she herself could not disobey. To argue would create disorder among the crew.

When she joined the _Saurian_ , she became a crewmember and thus stated she would follow orders. Kane's orders. Kane himself had to follow orders as well. She wasn't an Infiltrator anymore; she was a simple crewmember. A pilot. She would follow orders.

Kikira sat behind her at the communication station, and also behind her sat the captain in the captain's chair. Silence surrounded them; they hadn't spoken much in hours, their last words quick updates on the ship's status. All systems were functioning normally, and their scans showed no ships near them. Then again, their attacking ships hadn't shown up before they'd been hit before, either, despite the fact they had up-to-date equipment and scanning technology. The _Saurian_ was an elite ship, after all; the Foundation spared no expense on one of its finest bounty hunting vessels.

"Status report," Kane asked again, as he had hours prior, to initiate their earlier conversation.

"Systems nominal, Captain," Athena replied, swiping her index finger across the panel, bringing up her display. "All systems normal; scans aren't picking up any anomalies."

"Anything to report, Ms. Sondou?" Kane asked.

"Negative, Captain," Kikira said.

"Thank you."

Movement behind her assured her the captain had gotten to his feet, no longer seated in his chair.

"I will be in my quarters. Contact me if there are any changes."

"Of course, Captain," Athena said.

Kane left the room and Athena released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Silence surrounded them for a moment, before Kikira released her own sigh.

"This whole mission sucks," Kikira said.

Athena remained silent, but quietly agreed with her words. This assignment did indeed 'suck'; nothing had gone right from the start. First they'd been attacked in space, then the scouting mission had gone horribly, and then one of their own was killed. Now they were abandoning two of their crewmembers on Erudad.

She steeled her mind and focused on the task at hand; again her scans showed that there were no nearby ships in the area. According to her readings, they weren't being followed, nor were they being targeted at this moment. The area was safe, for now.

"Anything?"

The sudden voice startled her.

She spun in her chair, listening as Kikira did the same. They faced the newcomer as Dante stepped into the room. He'd aged a lot in the past few hours; Quinton's death had taken its toll on him. Though he hadn't been near Quinton as he died, he still wore blood on his hands from helping move and prepare the body for transport; he hadn't washed the blood away, but it wasn't as telling as the look in his dark hazel eyes, standing out in contrast against his pale face.

"How are you?" Kikira asked, though she must have known the answer, as it was written plainly on his face.

Dante drew in a breath, releasing it quickly. "I'm well, thank you. The readings? Anything?"

"Nothing so far," Athena said, shaking her head. "How is...? I mean, Quinton is being taken care of, I presume?"

His expression darkened, features tightening. "Yes, Mikel and Dr. Kosh are with him now."

She knew he would not leave him unattended.

"I'm sorry; I know he was a friend," she offered, at a loss for other words.

She was never good in these situations. As a new member of this crew, only here just over six months, she didn't know any of them particularly well, nor did she truly consider them her friends, but she did mourn Quinton's death in her own way. She knew Dante and Quinton had known and worked with each other for a long time, though; they were friends, and his death hit Dante hard, especially with him having to witness it through his scope as he had, being unable to do anything.

Dante's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed tightly. "Thank you. He will be missed."

"He will," Kikira agreed solemnly. "I remember when he used to complain when we didn't have coffee ready when he woke up. He'd joke about how we drank it all, or how we were hoarding the coffee beans, and-"

Dante abruptly turned, heading for the doorway. "Thank you for the update. I will speak with you both later."

After he disappeared through the doorway, Kikira and Athena shared a brief look. Kikira's dark eyes widened.

"I didn't mean to upset him," she said quietly.

Athena shook her head. "He's having a hard time; it's okay. Just give him some time."

Kikira released a heavy breath but nodded, and Athena turned back toward her work station.

xXx

_Planet Wanuu, Quadrant IV_

Aiko Renly looked over the vast sea of disappointment before shaking his head.

His men opened fire on the people before him, and he turned his back on their screams to head back toward his ship. A chilly wind blew in from the north as daylight died; wildlife roared in the distance, ready for the feast soon to be prepared for it.

_They can't say I don't help the wildlife, or I don't appreciate animals._

He entered his ship and nodded at his pilot, Shayne, who sat watching the scene through the windowpane, eating a bowl of something. Aiko never could understand Shayne's desire to eat in that accursed chair; it was uncomfortable, and there was a perfectly good table waiting for him in the mess.

Aiko ran a hand over his short-cropped hair, then scowled when he realized he still wore his combat gloves. At some point they became akin to a second skin, and he only realized he still wore them long after the fighting ended, when he was ready to unwind and must have truly looked rather awkward, out of his armor and laughing with his men, with his combat gloves still attached.

His second, Ryder, commented on it once, with a laugh and a roll of his eyes, but that was years ago and ever since he never said anything about it. Everyone just accepted it now; he himself never realized until much, much later, if at all.

"Another planet in another quadrant taken," Shayne said, always great with the exposition, Aiko decided. "A busy day, indeed, Captain."

"Very busy," Aiko said.

"The locals don't seem to want our leadership, however."

"They can either join us, or die," Aiko said. "I've no time for their indecision. I have a cosmos to conquer."


	8. It's All in the Revenge

_Chapter Eight: It's All in the Revenge_

Shuler's rest was thankfully dreamless.

He woke sometime when the sky was dark, and the air was frigid; the wind blew against his fur, causing even him to shiver despite his better warmth, and his eyes caught sight of the shivering human next to him. Elijah sat keeping watch, but had not made a fire, which was a wise decision. They did not know if there were more enemies nearby; just because they had only seen two attackers did not mean there were not more. It was unlikely those two were merely working alone; how would they come across such intel to know that Shuler was here, in order to attack him, on their own? Or gain access to their weapons?

Their race, the Erokians, came from the planet Ero, far from here. It was a small planet, and known for being rather poor. Their lot were often mercenaries, if they managed to get off their planet. Shuler rarely ran across them because it was so hard for them to get off their planet and out of the slums they created for themselves. So the fact they were here, not one but two of them, and with weapons and intel on him...

_They weren't working alone._

So it was smart to not create a fire, though they meant Elijah would freeze during the night cycle, without his armor which offered an interior heating system. Shuler himself lost his armor before the climb back up the cliffside, as it was cumbersome and painful. Now they were without communication with their ship, and without armor or weapons save for Helios and Calypso, on a strange planet.

_This just gets better and better, huh?_

He released a breath, and then grimaced. When did breathing become so painful?

_Oh, right. I was shot. Again._

When did he become such an easy target?

_I'm losing my touch. I've been out of the field too long. My masters would be so disappointed in me._

But they weren't here, and he wasn't with them anymore. He wasn't one of them anymore; he was just a crewmember on a ship now.

He shifted on the cold hard ground, and exhaled sharply at the pain which radiated through him at the movement. Elijah's head snapped up and over, and his blue eyes narrow sharply.

"Don't move," he snapped. "I spent hours keeping your sorry ass alive; don't waste my effort, cat."

Shuler's ears twitched briefly at the insult, before he sighed heavily, searching for his voice, which decided to be elusive. "Thank you. I suppose I owe you again."

"Count us even, and we'll be good."

"Sure, I guess I could do that."

_I save you by literally getting shot twice, and you patch me up once. Sure, we're good._

Elijah shook his head. "The debt isn't even, and you and I both know it. How are you feeling?"

"Awake," Shuler said. "How long was I out?"

"A while," Elijah answered. "I think the bleeding has finally stopped."

"How did you manage that?"

"I tied your fur together where I could... and singed it further, where it needed."

The apologetic lilt to his voice was... unexpected. Shuler blinked at him. "You cauterized the wound?"

"Yes."

"... Thank you."

Elijah's features twisted in a scowl. "I burned you, and you're thanking me?"

Shuler shrugged, then grimaced. "You saved me."

Elijah shook his head. "Yeah, well... stop getting shot. I thought cats were supposed to be agile."

"You try dodging gunfire, and see how far you get. As I recall, he was about to put a blast right between your eyes." He drew in a breath. "Where are we?"

"Along the riverside," Elijah replied. "I couldn't drag you far in your condition, but we couldn't stay there, either."

"Smart," he admitted, pushing his hands beneath him in an effort to sit up. The attempt left pain shooting through him, leaving him gasping. A hand pressed against his chest, pushing him back to the ground in an equally painful movement. Steely blue eyes glared down at him.

"What did I say about staying put? I don't need you reopening your wounds, or overexerting yourself. I need you to do whatever it is you need to do to heal, so we can get back to the _Saurian_ and get off this planet."

"Everything's stiff. I need to move."

"No. Rest."

Shuler scowled, and then laughed. "Are you actually worrying about me?"

"Of course not, I just don't want to return alone, or I'm sure Athena will have my head."

"Well... now that you mention it..."

Elijah snorted, moving away from him. "Are you going to tell me why those two were after you?"

Shuler grimaced. "Right. I did sort of promise an explanation if we got out of there alive, huh?"

"And here we are, alive." Blue eyes looked him over briefly. "For the most part. So, tell me."

Shuler exhaled loudly. "Right. Well, where to start? I met them years ago. We didn't get along. They wanted me dead. They finally had their chance. They failed. End of story. Sorry you got mixed up in everything."

"You're a shitty storyteller," Elijah muttered, rolling his eyes. "Start from the beginning. Why didn't you get along?"

"Probably because I tried to kill them."

"You what?"

"I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

"Talk, cat. I saved your sorry ass and got captured and tortured; I deserve an explanation."

Shuler winced; Elijah was right. He did deserve an explanation.

"Have you ever heard of the Elites?"

"An elite group of assassins, highly dangerous and trained from an early age, location unknown," Elijah said. "Not much is known about them; different backgrounds, different races, different divisions and targets... but the best of the best. Rigorous training, but not much is known about it. Wait..." His eyes widened. "You're not saying..."

Shuler smirked. "I didn't even get a severance package when I left. But then, I'm guessing not many retire from the whole assassin thing."

"You're an assassin. Kane hired a bloody _assassin_."

Shuler chuckled, and then immediately regretted it as it left his body aching. "Yes, before you ask, he knows. He knows of my past."

"Is that how you met Athena? Is she an assassin too?"

Shuler grimaced. "Athena's stealth skills are sub-par. She can't even sneak around as quietly as you, and I can't believe I just gave you a compliment. Don't ever tell her I said that. No, she's not an assassin. And her story isn't mine to tell. But yes, I did meet her through my work, but she was never my target."

"Target," Elijah said, his nose wrinkling. "How many innocent people were you hired to murder?"

"It wasn't like that."

"Oh? Then how would you describe an assassin?"

"Did you not hear how there were different divisions? I chose to be hired to kill only those who were actually guilty. I did my own investigations before actually killing them, too. I made sure they were guilty. I never killed innocents," Shuler said, sighing heavily.

Of course Elijah still didn't trust him; why would he ever trust Shuler?

"You asked about the two who attacked us," he said, getting them back to the conversation at hand, "I was sent to kill them because they murdered an entire family; they said it was because they liked the taste of blood, and the thought of killing, which isn't uncommon in their kind, so I went after them. I let them live because I realized it was not their fault; they were under orders, like myself. They were under orders but if they did not do as they were told, they would be killed, or their own families would be killed. I did not see the honor in killing someone who had no choice in what they did.

"I did, however, capture them, because they did take lives, and I handed them into authorities. After that I returned to my contractor, who was not pleased that I let them live. I explained that they were not truly guilty, and it is always my choice to take a life. I chose not to, and he did not have to pay me. Angry with me, they took matters into their own hands, but with those two locked away and out of reach, they went after their families and killed them instead. Those two blamed me. And that's the story."

He swallowed, looking up at the stars.

"I'm tired. Don't wake me unless you have to."

With that he allowed his eyes to close, and willed his mind to stop thinking.

xXx

Athena yawned and stretched out in her bed in the crew quarters while Kikira piloted for the time being. Stealth systems were engaged, and she was to wake Athena the second anything showed up on the screens, but by this point Athena had been awake for roughly twenty-six hours, and Kikira booted her from the room threatening to use physical force, armed with an empty coffee mug. Athena relented, her eyes burning and drooping, and left the room.

Now, though, she lay awake in bed, her mind unwilling to shut down and allow her the sleep she needed. Her mind kept wandering, her thoughts drifting back to Erudad, to the way Quinton's life ended in an instant, to the way she watched his life signs flicker and then end so abruptly. Back to Shuler and Elijah, both still missing, left behind on Erudad. Did they know they had been left behind, or were they attempting to make their way back to the ship? They would find the _Saurian_ gone, and themselves alone. Elijah, from what she gathered, was a former soldier; certainly he would understand that Kane had orders to follow, and it was nothing personal.

Still, he was stuck there with Shuler, assuming they were both still alive, and the two didn't particularly get along. Athena wished she'd fought harder to go after her friend back when she had the chance, instead of relenting to run unneeded scans on the ship; nothing was wrong with the _Saurian_ , and both she and Captain Kane knew it. The space attack was sudden and startling, but had nothing to do with the _Saurian_ malfunctioning.

Hopefully they would get answers soon, and she hoped that when they returned to Erudad, Shuler and Elijah would be there waiting for them.

_I am sorry, my friend._

She'd never been great at friendship; she'd never really had a friend. The Wise Ones raised her after he parents died in her tenth year, and before that, they were always in hiding, as her parents were being hunted for... something. She never found out why. It was the one secret she didn't know. In one night, she lost everything; what little normalcy she had in her runaway life, her parents, her sister... everything. She walked over her parents' fallen corpses, bare feet stained with their blood. She couldn't remember their hugs anymore, or what their voices sounded like, or if they ever smiled. All that remained of them was this image; her mother's long brunette hair stained red-brown, her sightless hazel eyes staring into a dark void Athena would never see herself; her father's face that was no longer a face, cut across the middle so his jaw hung off in an image that haunted her worst dreams.

_And it all happened so silently._

The night her parents were murdered, and her sister vanished, she didn't hear a sound. She slept deeply, dreamlessly, for the first time in a while. She woke because of something, though she couldn't remember what. It was unimportant now. All that mattered was that she woke, and tiptoed downstairs, and there in the living room were her parents in front of the fireplace, a bloody picture she never wished to see, and would never be able to un-see.

She fled from the house that snowy night, with her bloody bare feet, and the Wise Ones found her a few days later in a run down alleyway, about to be taken by a few older boys looking for a good time with a younger lady, even if she hadn't matured yet. All the better to hold her down, they said. All the better to teach her how to be a lady, they told her. She screamed at them and fought to get away, but they would have down horrible things to her if the Wise Ones hadn't stopped them, and taken her in. They'd been searching for her, they said. She never asked how they knew her name, nor why they were looking for her.

At the time, she was too grateful to be found.

They took her in, and trained her to be an Infiltrator. To silently collect secrets, to learn everything she could about her targets, in the hopes that one day she might find out what her parents were hiding, and might one day even find her missing sister. At night, she dreamt of the terrible things her parents' killer or killers might be doing to her poor little sister, whom she failed to protect. And she vowed never the be so helpless again.

But in order to never be helpless, that meant never having anything to lose, which meant no friends, no weaknesses.

And yet, she had a friend in Shuler, and she'd failed him just as she'd failed her family.

_I'm so sorry._

In her darkest hours, her fingers plucked the silver chain from around her neck, twisting the pendant around the chord. It was a gift given to her by her mother on her ninth birthday, just a year prior to when everything fell apart. Her little sister, Astra, was jealous of it, but their mother promised she'd have one like it when she turned nine, as was tradition in their family. If they weren't in hiding, she said, nine was when they'd start training, but she never clarified what that meant. She said it was a conversation for when they were older, but that conversation never came.

She looked down at the crescent moon pendant, and sighed heavily, closing her fingers solidly around it. She wasn't sure why she still held onto it after all these years; her family was gone, and whatever this might have meant was also gone, as they never got to have that conversation, and she had no remaining family other than her missing sister... who could very well be dead. It was probably kinder for her to be dead, Athena often thought. She shuddered thinking of the horrible things her captors might be doing to her if she was still alive. Was she scared? Terrified? Wishing her big sister would find her? Was she praying to the Moon Goddess for safety and comfort, as their mother often did?

Athena shut those thoughts down. Thinking on them never helped, and only showed weakness.

_I am not a child anymore. I have no sister. I am a pilot, and my friend is missing, and that is all. That's it. Nothing more._

She tightened her grip on the pendant briefly, and then released it, hiding it back beneath her standard uniform shirt.

She might have failed her family, but she'd be back for Shuler. They would return to Erudad for Shuler and Elijah, and they had better be waiting for them when they arrived.

Finally, her heavy eyelids fell closed, and her thoughts quieted, allowing her to drift into an uneasy sleep.

xXx

Elijah felt his eyelids droop, and blinked the sleep away as best he could. It had been hours since Shuler went silent and limp again, stating not to wake him unless it was an emergency, and still the night was dark and chilly. Elijah could no longer feel his fingers no matter how he rubbed them; he missed his gloves. He feared he would not be adequate in a fight should one arise at the moment, if he could not feel his fingers properly. Studies suggested huddling together for warmth was the key, but there was no way he was cuddling with the cat.

He thought of making a fire, but always dismissed the thought. He knew, as well as Shuler surely did, that they were not alone out here. Those two attackers were not here alone; they had help, even if they did concoct their own plans in attacking them. People would come looking for them, and find them dead, and then go in search of their killers. The light of the fire would only cause trouble, despite whatever comfort it might also bring. Fire was a double-edged sword.

He tightened numb fingers over the hilt of Helios, finding a touch of comfort in the weapon by his side. He was better with guns than with blades, but he would take what he would get and he did appreciate Shuler sharing his daggers with him.

Speaking of the cat, he wasn't sure what to make of him at the moment.

Shuler was an assassin. Or, rather, he used to be. A member of the Elites, an elusive group of assassins with different sub-divisions within their ranks. According to the cat, he didn't kill innocents; he seemed offended that Elijah would think that of him in the first place.

Shuler saved his life several times, and yet he killed people for a living prior to joining the _Saurian_.

 _But then,_ a voice whispered in his mind, _didn't you do the same?_

As a soldier, he took many lives. While it was true it was in battle, he did still kill people just the same as Shuler, and Shuler said he investigated his targets to make sure they were, in fact, guilty. Elijah wanted to believe him.

He scrubbed a hand across his face and sighed heavily, shoulders drooping.

The wind blew against him again; a shiver tore through him. The wind was picking it up and with it, the chill. The temperature was dropping; perhaps a storm was approaching. They needed to find shelter if that was the case, but he wasn't sure if Shuler was well enough to be moved without risking reopening his injuries.

Assassin or not, he was still a member of the _Saurian_ 's crew, and Elijah would not return to the ship without him.

Especially not after Shuler had saved his life so many times already.

Still, though, leaving him to the elements wasn't the best idea, either. They would need to seek shelter, and Shuler would know how to find a place better than him, and it would be easier to maneuver him if he was awake.

Elijah shifted closer to the cat and lightly touched his shoulder.

A second later he was flat on his back with Calypso's jagged edge held to his neck, and Shuler was groaning above him, eyes blinking open as recognition dawned on his face.

"Oh," he said, frowning. "Sorry. Um... See, when I'm hurt, it's not a good idea to wake me, especially not at such close proximity. That's kind of... why I said not to."

Calypso was removed from his neck, and Elijah released a shaky breath, glaring at the cat who thankfully got off of him, allowing him to breathe properly once more as he sat up.

_This is why I can't trust him. He's a killer._

_So are you,_ a part of his mind said.

"We need to move," Elijah said grumpily, pushing to his feet, grip tight on Helios. "I think a storm's coming, and since you can move so much without injuring yourself, I assume you're good to travel."

Shuler grimaced, or at least, as much as he could for a cat. It was hard to tell with the fur, sometimes. "I'm sorry," he offered, shoulders tense as he glanced away. He twirled Calypso in his grasp uneasily. "I didn't mean to attack you; it's just a reaction sometimes. I apologize. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I wasn't scared."

"Sorry."

"Whatever. Let's just go. The wind's picking up."

"A storm's coming," Shuler confirmed.

Of course he would know more than Elijah; he was an animal, after all.

Elijah watched as Shuler unsteadily made his way to his feet. The process was slow, and Elijah only just managed to stop himself from helping, still wary of the feel of Calypso pressed against his vulnerable neck. Shuler finally made it to his feet without staggering, and nodded at Elijah, silently telling him to lead the way.

Elijah gritted his teeth; he didn't know where to go, but Shuler wasn't really in any condition to lead the way.

He took the lead, and walked along the river's edge as the wind's grew worse, and the sky began to spit the first drops of rain.


	9. Assassins and Soldiers

_Chapter Nine: Assassins and Soldiers_

The clearing they were in now wasn't ideal, as it was easy to attack, but at least it offered shelter from the rain due to the overhanging tree growth; the leaves created a blanket, a canvas against the rain. Elijah wrapped his arms around himself, shivering in the cold as he leaned against the trunk of one of the large trees. He debated making a fire, but it was possible everything nearby was too damp, even if it wasn't completely soaked thanks to the cover above them, and the sight of smoke or flames could attract unwanted visitors. He was a soldier; he knew that being without a fire, even if they were cold, made more sense tactically.

Shuler was asleep again. He'd started staggering before too long, limbs too shaky to continue carrying him as fatigue weighed him down, and Elijah had to help him walk the rest of the way, with the cat's arm thrown over his shoulders. The feel of his fur against him was warm; he almost regretted releasing him, because as soon as the warmth left him the chill seeped in again, and he started shivering once more. Shuler fell asleep shortly after they stopped in this clearing, curled up with his head resting on his folded arms a few feet away from Elijah, settled against a different trunk.

Elijah's eyes longed to close, and his mind yearned for sleep, but he refused to allow it. He couldn't; one of them needed to keep watch, and Shuler was injured and needed the rest. Despite what he thought of the cat, Shuler did save his life, he was hurt, and he deserved the rest more than Elijah did. He took two shots for him, after all, even if he _was_ an assassin.

_An assassin._

The thought refused to settle in his mind, continuously rampaging through every nook and cranny. Shuler was an assassin; he killed people for a living, and Kane knew about this, but allowed him on the ship anyway. It didn't make any sense. How could he trust a killer in their crew?

And yet... Shuler didn't _seem_ like a cold-blooded killer, as all Elijah's interactions with assassins had concluded them all to be. He said he only killed the truly guilty, never any innocents, but how could he be certain? Even the justice system was flawed at times; sometimes they were wrong about who was guilty or who was innocent. What if that happened with Shuler? Then he murdered someone innocent.

And yet, Shuler had done nothing but get on his nerves at times, and save his life. A contradiction to everything he'd learned about assassins, and everything he'd thought he knew about alien species. He'd been wrong then; perhaps he was wrong now.

_Maybe I shouldn't judge him on his background. I mean, I've taken lives in combat. I was a soldier. I'm a killer the same as him._

He ran a hand over his face; he was too tired for these thoughts. All he wanted to do was sleep, but sadly he could not, as someone needed to keep watch. Who knew what was prowling around in the dark waiting for them? He certainly wasn't eager to find out, especially after that one creature chased them earlier, causing this whole fiasco in the first place. If they'd never been chased by that creature, they'd still have their communicators working, and they would most likely be back on the _Saurian_ by now.

He clasped the hilt of Helios loosely. He felt more at ease with it in his grasp, even if it wasn't his weapon of choice. A part of him knew how important these daggers were to Shuler. He'd gone through the trouble to name them, after all; one only did that when something was important enough to name. And despite the fact they were clearly important to the cat, he'd given one of them willingly to Elijah, who had been nothing but rude to him for most of his stay on the _Saurian_.

It whispered of trust, but Elijah would hear none of it.

Something hooted in the distance - an owl, in a perch far above. Elijah looked skyward, searching for the glow of eyes, but found nothing. The wind picked up as thunder clapped harshly overhead, above their cover of trees, and he flinched. His body shivered despite how he wrapped his arms around himself once again, struggling for warmth. He thought back again on the warmth provided when Shuler had been against him - perhaps there were advantages to fur.

He would certainly be warmer next to the cat, but he refused to stoop to such measures merely for warmth. He was a soldier; he could handle a little cold.

Nevertheless, he shivered.

Thunder clapped again, and the wind picked up once more.

"Come here," Shuler said suddenly, causing him to glance over at the cat. Shuler was awake, copper-green eyes watching him. Strange, how he hadn't noticed the other waking, nor felt said gaze on him. How long had Shuler been awake? "Come here," the cat said again, a little louder this time, as he lifted an arm.

Elijah stared, uncomprehending. "What?"

"You're going to freeze if you stay there, and I'm tired of listening to you shiver," Shuler said, rolling his eyes. "Come here."

"I'm not a cuddling kind of guy, sorry."

There was no way he was huddling together with the cat for warmth.

"But you're a 'freezing to death' kind of guy, huh?"

"I won't freeze to death. It's barely cold."

"That's why you're shivering so much, and your teeth are chattering?"

He hadn't noticed the chattering teeth. He scowled at the cat. "I am not cuddling with you."

"Fine. Then I'll cuddle with you."

Shuler pushed himself up from the ground, wincing somewhat as he did so, and then he was walking toward Elijah. He sat next to him, and suddenly he was pressed against him as well, flinging an arm around Elijah's shoulders, dragging him over to rest his head on the cat's shoulder.

Elijah stiffened; this was unnatural, and awkward, and the position wasn't very comfortable... but he was warmer. The cat was warm. He had a naturally higher body temperature than humans, and with the added fur... Yes, he was quite warm, and his teeth stopped chattering.

 _Dammit,_ he thought.

He should push away... but his body refused to do so, too eager for warmth.

"Don't read anything into this," he muttered. "I still don't like you."

"Perish the thought," Shuler said. "Cuddling won't change our 'enemy' status."

Guilt gnawed at him briefly. "We're not... I mean..." He sighed heavily. "I don't hate you."

He didn't hate Shuler; perhaps he never did. He just didn't trust alien species, and Shuler was quite alien to him. Perhaps that prejudice had gotten in the way... but Shuler had proven himself, he thought. He could have just Elijah die, but instead, he continued to save him despite harm to himself. He was also an assassin, though... Or, _former_ assassin. And Elijah still couldn't quite wrap his mind around that, but he didn't hate the cat. Hate was a strong word.

"Well," Shuler said after a moment of silence, "that's good to know. Being hated is exhausting. Get some sleep."

Elijah scowled. "You're the one who's hurt, so I should keep watch."

"You've kept watch for hours, and I'm well enough to be on guard for a bit while you get some rest. I'll wake you in a few hours, don't worry."

Elijah wanted to argue more, but Shuler had a point. He seemed aware enough to keep watch for now, and his eyelids were already beginning to close, the warmth too alluring. He was so tired; it had been a tremendously long day. Long few days.

"Fine," he mumbled, half-asleep already, "but you... better wake me."

He felt Shuler's chuckle through his shoulder, where his head rested. "Of course. Sleep, Elijah."

Elijah slept.

xXx

Shuler yawned heavily, relaxing further against the tree. The arm he still had around Elijah's shoulders had long ago gone numb, but he kept it there nevertheless. He was too tired and sore to let a little numbness bother him. The storm had let up, thankfully; occasionally there was a roll of thunder, but it was off in the distance, echoes of the previous storm.

He was still sore, but was healing well, all things considering. It'd be better if they were back on the _Saurian_ , of course, but sadly they were stuck here for the time being. He wondered, idly, if the _Saurian_ was even still here. Surely they would have sent a search party after them by now - right? It had been days - Erudad's days, even - since they lost contact with the ship. They came here on a mission, and he knew Kane would see the mission finished even with two of his crew missing. The job came first - Shuler understood this, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Would Kane give the order to leave them here, after they finished the job? Was the _Saurian_ even still on Erudad? Or were he and Elijah alone?

It was an uncomfortable thought, so he left it be, shoving it aside as he refocused on the heavy head on his shoulder. He glanced over at the head of hair, shifting his shoulder slightly. Elijah muttered under his breath but didn't awaken. Shuler inhaled quietly, hating that he needed to wake him, but it was best if they started moving again now that the storm had passed. Staying in one place certainly wasn't safe. Perhaps they could find a place to stay where they could both sleep.

Somehow, he doubted it.

"Elijah," he said quietly, shifting his shoulder again, making Elijah's head move. "Wake up."

Elijah was slow to wake, evidence of his exhaustion. Shuler had done his research on every member of the crew prior to joining â€“ he knew Elijah was an ex-soldier, but that soldier part of him never truly left him. Under normal circumstances he was a light sleeper, waking at the slightest movement or noise, always ready for action. He was the model soldier that way. But now he muttered under his breath again, blinked heavy eyelids open, and took a full minute to focus enough to realize why his pillow wasn't particularly soft like he was used to on the _Saurian_.

Once he realized this, of course, he lifted his head quickly, murmuring a quick apology as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"It's fine," Shuler said. "Sleep well?"

Elijah nodded slowly. "Well enough, I guess. My turn for watch, then?"

"No," Shuler said, shaking his head, causing Elijah to glance over at him, "I figured we could travel a little while the storm has passed."

Elijah nodded again. "Right. Good idea. Any, uh... idea where we are? How to get back to the _Saurian_?"

Shuler hesitated; he'd been hoping Elijah knew. "Nothing smells familiar through here," he said, sighing. "But I know the ship is vaguely that way." He gestured with a nod in the direction he meant, and Elijah glanced that way.

"Right," Elijah exhaled, before he steeled his voice. "Let's go, then."

He stood, and Shuler stretched briefly, wincing somewhat as the motion pulled at sore muscles and tender flesh. He was healing, but not as quickly as he would have liked. He likely had an infection, but hopefully his strengthened immune system would conquer it before it became an issue.

He stood more slowly than Elijah, and pulled Calypso free from its holster. Elijah still held Helios, thankfully; he'd hate to have lost one of his daggers.

As an assassin he couldn't get attached to much. People complicated matters. Homes did as well. So he grew attached to little things like his daggers, gave them names and cleaned them as much as possible. Right now they were blood-stained and mucky; he wanted to clean them, wipe them down properly, but sadly they didn't have the time right now. Maybe later, when they were back on the _Saurian_.

 _If the ship's even still here,_ he thought sourly.

He wouldn't blame Kane for leaving them here after the mission was completed. The job always came first, after all. He understood Kane had orders to follow himself.

But understanding and forgiving were two entirely different things â€“ and he'd never mastered the art of forgiveness.

He gritted his teeth, forcing the thoughts away again.

Elijah gave him an assessing glance, a calculating look in his eyes. "I'll lead the way," he said finally, obviously noting the way Shuler remained slightly hunched over, middle still too sore to stand up properly, "just tell me if I'm going the wrong way."

A part of Shuler wanted to argue - he wasn't an invalid. He could navigate just as well as Elijah, and take the front just as well as him, but he let it slide simply because Elijah rarely showed concern. Usually they were bickering, or worse. So he nodded and kept silent, allowing Elijah to lead.

Elijah tightened his grip on Helios, and then began pushing through the undergrowth.

The ground was slippery and moist, mud quickly caking their feet. Every bit of undergrowth - leaves and bush limbs and low-hanging branches - they pushed out of the way leaked water like a quick faucet. Elijah took the brunt of this, leading the front. Limbs and twigs snagged at his clothing, scraping against exposed skin, and he used Helios to help cut a path when needed.

For a little while they traveled in silence, save for the thunder in the distance, and the sound of Elijah chopping at limbs and vines.

Finally, Elijah sighed, stopping as he turned to face Shuler. "Do you think the _Saurian_ is still there?"

Clearly, Elijah had similar doubts. He knew the mission as well as Shuler. He knew the job was the priority. "I don't know," he said truthfully, unwilling to lie despite the hope in Elijah's eyes. He watched that hope fade with his answer, his eyes darkening. "We'll figure something out when we get there."

They'd have to.

"So we might be stuck here," Elijah muttered, shaking his head. "Great. This isn't what I signed up for."

"I don't think any of us signed up to be abandoned on some planet," Shuler pointed out with a shrug. "But such is life. We'll manage."

Elijah watched him for a moment, before he nodded slowly. "Yeah," he said, "we'll manage."

Silence surrounded them once more, stifling in its quiet. Shuler exhaled loudly, but said nothing, as there was nothing further to say. They had to hope they weren't abandoned here on this planet, and the _Saurian_ was still there, waiting for them.

Nevertheless, Shuler planned for disappointment.

Life was easily if one just expected things to go wrong - then one wasn't caught off guard.

 _Always plan for the worst,_ his instructors used to say. _And then adapt and improvise._

The worst was this: The _Saurian_ had already departed without them, and they would be stuck here on this planet for a while. Eventually the ship would return for them â€“ he hoped. He assumed. The worst of this scenario was this: The _Saurian_ left without them, and they weren't coming back, due to whatever issues might arise. They were stuck here left to find their own way off this primitive, hostile planet.

 _I know nothing of engineering,_ Shuler thought sourly. _It's doubtful Elijah does, either._

In the case of this scenario, they'd have to find their attackers' ship. They had to get here somehow, after all. That would be their only way off this planet. It would be dangerous searching for it, too, because there could have been more than two of their attackers. It was likely there were more.

 _Maybe I'm just being too pessimistic,_ he thought. _Maybe the ship is still there._

They'd find out eventually.

His gut told him the ship was already gone, but he didn't voice his concerns. Instead he followed silently behind Elijah as they carefully made their way through the underbrush.

xXx

Athena slept little. The first half of her sleep was silent, without dreams, but the second half, after she woke and used the restroom and went back to bed, was riddled with nightmares. Memories of her family's murder, scenarios featuring her lost little sister, and of course, her missing friend. Eventually she gave up on sleep, grabbed a cup of coffee, and returned to her station.

Kikira gladly gave it up, yawning widely. They were moving as quickly as they could without overheating the core, attempting to get to the Council base on Quantix 4 as soon as possible, so that they could return and search for their missing crew members.

Her thoughts drifted back toward Shuler. She'd never been great at friendship, as she'd never truly had a friend before, but she was certain you weren't supposed to abandon your friend on a planet like she did. It hadn't been her call, of course â€“ they all had orders to follow - but that meant little to the self-deprecating part of her mind.

 _I'm sorry, Shu,_ she thought with a sigh, _but we'll return for you soon. Stay safe._

Shuler could handle his own, she was certain. But he wasn't alone. He was with Elijah, who didn't particularly like the cat. It left worry twisting in her stomach as Shuler's words echoed once more through her mind, whispering at her to avenge him.

_I will, if it comes to that._

Hopefully it didn't.

She sat in her pilot's chair, looking over the readings on the screen before her. It had been a smooth journey so far. At this speed, they should reach Quantix 4 in roughly two days. Then they could hold Quinton's ceremony and lay him to rest, and hand over the fugitive currently in their holding cell. And afterward, they could return to Erudad and find Shuler and Elijah.

She found her fingers tracing the outline of her necklace through her shirt, fingers pricking lightly at the fabric. She forced her hand away, and ran further diagnostics on the ship's thrusters, making sure they were indeed holding up well for the journey ahead. The attack prior to landing on Erudad had taken a toll on them, but Celeste was a clever engineer, and fixed them in record time. They weren't perfect, and she would need certain parts to fully repair them, but the patchwork job she did held up well enough at the speed they were traveling. As long as they didn't run into any complications, they would be fine.

Strange, Athena thought idly, how she trusted someone to fix the ship without her input. She had little say over what choices Celeste made, and like the rest of the crew, simply had faith she was correct. Everyone aboard this ship trusted her opinion when it came to the core, and any patchwork fixes on the ship. Athena had never been a very trusting person; it went with the whole 'lack of friends' bit. But then she met Shuler, and then she joined the _Saurian_ , and life changed.

_Life is ever changing._

Athena detested change. She preferred normal routine; why did things have to change so suddenly? Why couldn't Erudad be a simple routine pickup?

Instead they were attacked, and then two of their crew went missing, and then Quinton was killed by their target. This entire mission had gone wrong.

"I thought you were sent to get rest," came a voice behind her, and she spun in her chair to find Kane entering the room, stopping just beside his chair, fingers trailing lightly over the back of it.

She exhaled quietly. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd run some more tests. Kikira was tired, anyway."

"You're a hard worker," Kane said with a nod. "That is admirable. But don't forget to take care of yourself as well."

"I know. Thank you."

Kane sat in his chair. "Anything to report?"

"Negative, Captain."

"Would you like to talk?"

The offer was so unexpected Athena could only stare at him for a moment. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Would you like to talk?" the captain repeated in that same friendly tone. "I know this mission has gotten to you. It's okay to talk about things. It's okay to not be 100% all the time, Athena."

"I... I know, sir." She looked away, spinning back in her chair to face the readings and the diamond glass window into the vast blackness of space. "I apologize if I have been lacking. I didn't mean to endanger the crew."

If she was not at her best, she could not pilot her best, either. It was dangerous for the crew if she was not operating at 100% efficiency. She would not fail them again.

"I didn't mean it that way, Athena," Kane sighed heavily. "I know you'll do anything you have to, to protect this crew. That is admirable, as well. But emotionally, I know you are compromised. That's not a bad thing. I'd be concerned if you weren't."

She remained silent, uncertain as to what she could or should say in response. Her fingers twitched against the console, itching to feel the outline of her necklace again. It was a habit she developed a while back, picking at the necklace and holding the pendant whenever worry drilled too much into her mind. A habit she needed to break. Good Infiltrators didn't have tells like this. Maybe that was why Shuler knew so much about her when they first met - her tell gave her away. She didn't know. She just knew it needed to stop.

 _But I'm not an Infiltrator anymore,_ she thought. _I'm just a pilot._

"Talk to me, Athena," Kane said, breaking the uneasy silence surrounding them. As it shattered, she inhaled shakily.

"I hate that we left them there, on Erudad," she said finally. "I understand that we all have orders to follow - but it feels like we're abandoning them. I hate it."

"As do I. I detest leaving members of the crew behind, but sometimes it is necessary. We're hauling a dangerous criminal across the galaxy - this task demands speed and efficiency. We will return for them afterward."

"I understand," she said softly, "but that doesn't mean I like it. Shuler... he..." She exhaled loudly through her nose. "He's my friend. I don't have many of those."

_I only have one of those, actually, and we left him behind..._

"Leaving friends behind is always hard."

She shrugged helplessly, shoulders tense. "I'm not the best at friendship... but I feel like I'm abandoning him, leaving him behind. Elijah too."

She might not get along very well with Elijah Thomas, but he was still a member of the crew and she didn't like leaving him behind any more than Shuler.

She wasn't entirely certain why she was telling all of this to Kane. She typically kept silent on her worries, letting them plague only her mind instead of others', but Kane offered a willing ear and she found she had too much pent up emotion to simply let it consume her. So she shared it, and the words came tumbling out of her mouth.

"No offense, sir, but I just want to get this over with and get back to them."

"I understand completely, Athena," Kane said calmly, quietly. "We'll do this as quickly as we can, and then head back to Erudad on full speed. We just need to give Celeste enough time to work on the ship after we land."

Athena nodded. "Thank you, Captain." She did feel a little better, having spoken of her worries.

"Talking about these things is always better than letting them silently consume you, I've found."

"Wise words, sir."

They would land on Quantix 4, allow the ship to be repaired completely, hold the ceremony for Quinton, and hand over Victor Arnell, and then they'd return for Shuler and Elijah.

She just had to be patient.

xXx

A sixteen-hour night cycle was long indeed.

Long and cold, Shuler determined, even with his fur giving him added warmth. He could only imagine how Elijah felt, in only his undershirt and pants, his armor taken from him by their attackers prior to Shuler finding him. Shuler's own armor had suffered at the bottom of the cliff. They were left uncomfortably unprotected should something, or someone, attack them. It left a sour taste in Shuler's mouth.

He felt more nimble without his armor, which could hinder his movements at times, but he also felt unprotected and exposed. He hated feeling exposed.

Finally, after a few hours of walking, heading in the direction Shuler's gut told him the ship was in, Elijah's shivering became too much.

"Let's stop for a bit," Shuler suggested.

Elijah flinched as the silence between them was shattered. "What?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at Shuler.

"Let's stop for a bit," he repeated. "We're both cold and tired. Pushing ourselves won't help anyone."

"We need to get to the ship before they leave."

 _If they haven't already left,_ Elijah left unspoken, but Shuler heard it nevertheless.

"What if they've already left?" Shuler asked, hating that he needed to be 'that guy', and shattered Elijah's tentative hope. But he needed Elijah to consider the very real possibility that they were left behind, and would have to find their own way off this planet.

Elijah faltered, nearly missing his next step. His ankle twisted and he staggered, wincing as he ripped his gaze away from Shuler, facing forward once again as he found his footing. "They haven't."

"You know the job comes first," Shuler pointed out. "It's something we all learned when we signed up, I'm sure. Kane has to follow orders like anyone else."

Elijah's shoulders stiffened, but Shuler knew Elijah understood the objectives just the same as he himself did. They both knew the job came first, and that if ordered to do so, Kane would leave them here. He'd try to come back for them, of course, but sometimes that wasn't possible. Shuler had heard stories about people left behind on planets permanently - not because of cruelty, but because of complications and circumstances.

"Elijah?"

The human had been quiet for a while.

Elijah sighed heavily, shoulders drooping. "If they left us here... I understand why they had to do it."

"...But?" Shuler prompted.

" _But_ ," Elijah said, "I have no idea what to do from there. If we're stuck here, what then? What do we do?" He stopped, and turned to glance at Shuler. "What's next?"

_Why are you looking at me? I don't know any more than you do._

He didn't say this, of course; Elijah was concerned, and looking for a little reassurance and guidance, and Shuler wouldn't turn him away. He wouldn't be that cruel. "We'll think of something. We'll manage. If we have to, we'll steal the ship from our attackers. They had to have landed somewhere. But there might be more of them, which means we'll have to fight... but we'll manage. We always do."

Elijah stared at him for a long moment, before he nodded slowly. "Right. That's a plan, at least. How do you do it?"

"How do I... do what?" Shuler asked, confused.

Elijah scowled at him. "Don't play innocent. How do you do it? How do you always have a plan?"

"I don't always have a plan."

Elijah snorted. "Could have fooled me, cat."

Once upon a time, Shuler would have bristled at the insult. He was not a _cat_ , he was merely catlike. It would be like him calling a human an ape. Once upon a time, he would have retorted similarly, but after being stuck here with Elijah for so long already... maybe it wasn't an insult. "I'm just as lost as you half the time."

"You got us into the tree, led that creature away..."

"And promptly attempted to drown myself," Shuler said, rolling his eyes. "None of that was _planned_ , it just happened. I think on my feet, that's all. It's something we have to learn among the Elites."

Elijah's expression darkened. "Right. As an _assassin_."

Irritation flared through Shuler. "This again? I only kill the guilty, I told you."

"Still a killer."

"What about you, then?" Shuler snapped. "Weren't you a soldier? I bet you took your fair share of lives."

"How do you know that?" Elijah asked, frowning. "I didn't tell anyone except Kane."

"I looked into you. I looked into everyone before joining the crew," Shuler said, rolling his eyes. "I'm an Elite, remember? I gather information like my life depends on it, because sometimes it does. I know a lot about your past, and everyone else's on that ship. I just don't go around telling everyone."

"You _looked into me_?" Elijah echoed, staring at him. "You invaded my privacy!"

"It's all public record!"

"It's classified!"

"Still public if you know the right people!"

"You're so fucking frustrating," Elijah snapped, glaring, lips curling back in a snarl. "Did you know that?"

"I'm quite aware, thanks," Shuler said, rolling his eyes. "You're not a ray of sunshine either."

"You invaded my privacy!"

"So you've already said. I invaded everyone's privacy. There, you happy now? It was my fucking _job_ , before I joined the _Saurian_. I don't do that stuff _anymore_."

"And that's supposed to reassure me?"

"I don't know - is it?"

"Agh!" Elijah grunted in frustration. "You're so annoying and frustrating!"

"Thanks! I try!"

The two glared at each other for a little longer, before Shuler looked away.

"You can hate me all you want, but that's not going to help us get off this planet."

Elijah huffed and then started walking again. Shuler sighed and after a moment's hesitation, followed after him. Even if they didn't get along, and even if Elijah hated him, they were part of the same crew and they needed to stick together. He had to trust that Elijah would at least honor that; that he still saw Shuler as a member of the crew, despite his apparent invasion of privacy.

He did invade Elijah's privacy, as well as everyone else's on the ship. Except he didn't, in his mind; it was all mostly public record, like he told Elijah. Elijah's records were considering 'classified', but if one knew the right people, anything was public record. Shuler had many connections; it was what made him good at his job. Former job, at any rate.

_I keep messing things up..._

He and Elijah seemed to be getting along, with Elijah even calling him a member of the crew, finally; and now it felt like they were back at square one. Back at the beginning, with antagonistic words and unfriendly sneers and standoffish behavior. It felt like they were finally getting somewhere, but now it meant nothing because he revealed that he was a former member of the Elites, and that he knew Elijah's background.

It was so much easier with Athena; she understood the need to learn about a person prior to forming friendships or alliances with them. It was how they met, after all, and something they shared. She always understood his need to learn more, his curiosity - understood it in a way his instructors never did.

They always warned him against his curiosity; Athena always embraced it.

His need to know left him at odds with others at times, of course - such as now, with Elijah.

He couldn't help but mourn their fledgling understand, their fledgling friendship, if he could call it that. They'd been making progress, but now it was ruined because of a little misstep in his words.

They walked for a good ten minutes before Elijah abruptly stopped, and turned to face him. Shuler stopped and backed away a few feet, as he'd nearly collided into Elijah's back at his sudden change in movement. Elijah chewed briefly on his lower lip as his gaze darted away, and his shoulders slouched.

"I don't..." Elijah finally sighed heavily, the anger leaving him. "I don't hate you."

"Could have fooled me," Shuler said quietly, frowning at the sudden change in behavior.

"I'm... Look..." Elijah huffed in frustration, then restarted, glancing at him again. "I guess I'm sorry. I guess it _was_ your job before you joined, and you wanted to know who you would be working with prior to saying yes. I can... I can understand that. That doesn't mean I don't feel violated, but I can understand your reasons."

Shuler blinked; that was rather understanding, for Elijah. "Apology accepted."

Elijah grunted. "I wasn't really... I mean... Okay, yeah, I'm sorry. But you still investigated me without my knowing. You could have just asked."

Shuler blinked at him. "If I asked, would you have answered me, when we first met?"

Elijah hesitated. "I guess not. I would have told you to shove it." A brief pause. "But that doesn't mean you couldn't have asked later; you didn't need to investigate me from the beginning. You should have just trusted Kane, and that as a member of the crew, I was qualified to be there."

"Trust isn't easy for me," Shuler admitted. "And curiosity is a weakness, I suppose. My mentors always tried to drill it out of me, but it never worked for very long. I always want to know everything from the beginning, and I have the means to get the information... so I just... do it. I was trained to just do it without asking permission. I guess I need to alter that part of me, now that I'm not... what I was."

Silence followed his words. Elijah watched him, that calculating tint back in his eyes. Finally, he sighed and nodded, as though to himself more than Shuler, before he wetted his lips and spoke. "I can see how it might take a while to unlearn things. You've had to be suspicious and untrusting most of your life, and I guess I didn't help matters by being... cold toward you. I apologize. I should have made you feel welcome as a member of the crew, but instead I was rude to you."

"It's okay," Shuler said. "You didn't know much about me; for all you knew I could have been an enemy. You were just being cautious."

"It's more than that," Elijah said uneasily, gaze averting toward the ground. "When I was a kid... Well, I guess alien species have proven to be quite... dangerous, to me. Untrustworthy. So I threw my prejudice at you, and I shouldn't have. You've been nothing but helpful, for the most part. You saved my life. You didn't deserve my anger."

Shuler frowned; he didn't investigate that far into Elijah's background, just his soldier days to get a feel for who he was. He knew a lot of humans were wary around alien species, but he had never thought Elijah was cold toward him because of negative experiences with alien species. For some reason the thought never crossed his mind.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't realize..."

"You mean you don't know?" Blue eyes lifted, looking at him once more.

"I didn't look that far back," Shuler said. "I only looked at your soldier days to get a feel for who I would be working with; I didn't go into every little detail of your life, or your younger years."

Elijah's tense shoulders relaxed slightly. "So I have some privacy, at least."

"Sorry."

"It's okay; I can understand why you did it. I guess I would have done the same, if I had your connections and the means to get my answers without asking. Curiosity is nasty, sometimes, but we all share it."

Shuler smiled faintly. "They say curiosity killed the cat."

Elijah laughed lightly, snorting afterward as he shook his head. "Hopefully you're smarter than the average cat."

"They call me Mr. Cat."

"Do they, now?"

Shuler smirked and nodded. Elijah laughed again.

"Well, Mr. Cat," Elijah said, "you said something about stopping earlier, but I didn't really listen. It'll probably be easier to travel in the daylight, and I'm exhausted so I can only imagine how you feel. How... are you, by the way?"

"Sore, but I'll live," Shuler said, shrugging. "Not to mention freezing, so I know you have to be."

"You are warmer than me."

"Figured that out by sleeping on me, did you?"

Elijah spluttered for a moment. "Wh-... It's not like that."

"Then what was it like?"

"You... Alright, so it's a little like that. But you forced me to do it, and you were warm and I was freezing."

"I didn't ask for excuses," Shuler said, smirking. "Anyway, I smell a river or a creek up ahead; we can stop next to it. I'm thirsty, and ready for a nap."

"I have first watch, then," Elijah sighed.

"I can take first watch, if you want."

He'd hoped they find a place where they could both sleep, but-

He frowned. Wait. Didn't they do that before?

"Actually, we can both sleep," Shuler said, shaking his head. "I'm an idiot. I can only blame blood loss. Anyway, after we get a drink, I can just find us a tree to sleep in, like before."

Elijah scowled. "No."

"...No?"

"You're hurt, and I hate heights. You're not dragging me up another tree."

"It's safer up there," Shuler told him.

"I don't care, I'll keep watch and then you can keep watch, but we don't need to climb up a tree again."

"You're being stubborn."

"And you're not?"

"I'm being reasonable," Shuler said, shaking his head. "It just makes more sense."

"And if one of us falls out of the tree?"

"I'm a cat; we land on our feet, or so I'm told," Shuler said dismissively. "And as for you, you can sleep against me again - for warmth, and security. If you start to fall I'll wake up and catch you."

"This is a stupid plan," Elijah muttered. "I'm not sleeping against you again."

"So you'd rather freeze? You'd rather we both freeze, instead of combining our warmth? Not very practical."

Elijah huffed. "You're really set on this, aren't you?"

"I'm stubborn, remember?"

"I thought you were reasonable?"

"So you admit I'm reasonable. Good to know."

"You're infuriating."

"Thank you!"

"That wasn't - ugh, fine. But if I wake up dead in the morning... I'm going to kill you."

"You can't wake up dead," Shuler said as they started walking again. "Also, if you die, you can't kill me."

"I hate you."

"Nah, you love me. I'm too fluffy to hate."

"How does Athena put up with you?" Elijah called over his shoulder as he led the way with Helios.

"Athy understands me."

"Athy?"

"Athy gets a nickname because she's awesome."

Elijah snorted. "Does anyone else have a nickname, or is everyone else just completely boring and not awesome?"

"Athy's special," Shuler said, and then paused, realizing what he said. "But I mean... I guess everyone else is, too. I just don't know them well enough. Athena was my first real friend."

Elijah stopped, turning his head enough to glance at him. "You've never had a friend before her?"

"Not really," Shuler said, shrugging. "Most of the other Elites had little to do with me because I was a foreign species they'd never seen before. I've never met anyone like me. So I grew up isolated from the others, and did my jobs alone. Anyone I met under a false name was just a cover â€“ there one day and gone the next. I never stayed in one place more than a week or so, until I met Athena. We were both... lonely, I guess, and found friendship in each other. Then we joined the _Saurian_ , and... well, you know how that went."

"So... no one else is your friend? But I've seen you eating lunch with Kikira, Dante, and others..."

Shuler shrugged again, sighing heavily. When did the conversation turn toward his lack of friends? Now he just seemed pathetic. "I've never been good at friendship, or open honesty. It always feels like it's just an elaborate lie I'm playing, trying to convince myself I'm Shuler Rythos, and not Elaric Manit, or Kasha Wylle, or... anyone else."

"Is Shuler your real name, or another alias?" Elijah asked. Shuler searched his face for anger at possibly being lied to again, but instead found only curiosity. Hmm. Interesting.

"Shuler is the name my mentors gave to me when they got me."

"And... Who were you before that?"

"I don't know. I was a baby."

Elijah blinked at him. "You're telling me the Elites got you when you were a baby? How?"

Shuler shrugged. "I don't know. They say I was left there, on their doorstep. A little member of a dying breed."

"Dying breed? I don't think you've ever said what you are."

"It's not very important; it's not who I am," Shuler said.

"I'd still like to know," Elijah said softly, like Shuler might shoot him down, "if you'd tell me."

Why Elijah would want to know, Shuler had no idea, but he asked. He asked, and Shuler wouldn't turn him away. "Alright," he said. "Then here's the story, I guess. I never met my parents, or anyone else from my species. My race. I don't identify with them; it's just how I look. I know nothing about them. My planet was destroyed before I was born; they say the planet's sun went supernova and destroyed it, and all but a few members of my secluded race. I guess cats don't like to travel, or communicate with other species unless they have to." He shrugged, even as emotion clogged his throat. He swallowed down the lump. "Only a rare few of my kind remained after that, my parents being some of the lone survivors. For whatever reason, they gave me to the Elites. I've known nothing but the Elites... until I met Athena, and left them."

Elijah stared at him for a moment, frowning. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "That's... That sucks."

Shuler laughed weakly, roughly. "Yeah," he murmured, "that about sums it up."

"I can't imagine not knowing my parents, or losing my planet. Or being possibly the last of my kind, and never seeing another human," Elijah said quietly. "And all you've known is the Elites; you never had a chance at normal, huh? You grew up being suspicious and taught to be a killer."

"You make it sound so bad," Shuler said, "but honestly it was okay. My mentors provided for me, and taught me different languages and how to use technology and where all the muscles and organs were in a variety of species."

Being raised by the Elites honestly wasn't terrible; he never knew any better, until he left them. He thought it was normal. He questioned his parents' disappearance, and why they just left him there like something unwanted, but he didn't dwell on it for too long, though that nagging question always rested in the back of his mind. It was just the way things were, to him, for a long time; he was raised by the Elites, he knew nothing but the Elites, and he knew he was alone. He worked better alone anyway, he told himself; it didn't matter.

Not a normal childhood, no; and he knew very little of social interaction prior to joining the crew, but that was okay, because he never knew any better. He thought maybe everyone grew up that way.

Now he knew the truth, of course; his parents abandoned him, and his childhood was anything but normal.

"You speak about it as if it was a good thing," Elijah said, sounding rather confused. "But it wasn't. You never had friends, you never had anyone you could trust implicitly. That sounds lonely, to me."

"To be lonely means you understand what it is to be with others," Shuler said quietly. "I never knew, until I met Athena. How could I be lonely, when I was always alone? It was all I knew, at the time." He exhaled slowly. "But enough about that. I don't want to complain."

He didn't want to complain, and he wasn't entirely sure why he was telling Elijah all of this. If someone told him even a week ago that he'd spill his life story to Elijah Thomas of all people, he would have called them insane. But after the past few days... well, it was interesting how quickly one's opinion could change in life or death situations.

Elijah watched him for a moment; Shuler felt naked, under the scrutiny. Perhaps this was how Elijah felt, when he said Shuler violated his privacy. The look in Elijah's eyes hinted at thoughtful and calculating, rather than some other negative emotion.

"Elijah?" he asked, after a moment.

Elijah exhaled, seemingly coming to a conclusion. "Call me Eli," he said finally, before he turned and started walking again.

Shuler watched him go, frowning, before he caught up to him. "Any particular reason?"

"... It's what my friends call me."

xXx

_Somewhere in space, Quadrant IV_

Captain Aiko Renly sat in his quarters, going over charts on the pad he held in his hand. Two more planets in Quadrant IV to conquer, then he could move onto the next. He smiled to himself, pleased; he was making excellent progress. Soon all of the cosmos, all the galaxies and quadrants, would be his. He'd conquer all the known land, and then venture into the unknown lands.

There were only two left in this quadrant; a large planet known for semi-primitive villages and dangerous wildlife, and a smaller one known for being nearly uninhabitable, as it was too frigid to sustain life comfortable. There were research teams assigned to it, of course, but they rotated every few months or so. The wildlife, few though they were, was rather hostile, used to the frigid temperature.

He decided the next planet to be conquered would be the large one.

The massive planet was just begging to be taken.

He hit a button on the panel next to him. "Shayne."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Set course for Erudad. We have a planet to conquer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was so annoying to edit out all the stupid symbols. No more for a while. Ugh.


End file.
